Ex-Assemblyman indicted in $6.3M narcotics scheme (NYP) A former Brooklyn state assemblyman was arraigned Thursday in connection with three Brooklyn pill mills accused of dumping $6.3 million in narcotics onto the black market. A former Brooklyn state assemblyman was arraigned Thursday in connection with three Brooklyn pill mills accused of dumping $6.3 million in narcotics onto the black market. Alec Brook-Krasny, 59, abruptly resigned from public office in 2015 to become chief financial officer of Quality Laboratory Services in Sheepshead Bay, where his compensation package totaled $350,000 in 2016, according to prosecutors. It didn’t take long for the ex-pol to allegedly start scheming with crooked Dr. Lazar Feygin who ran two of the pill mills, according to Assistant District Attorney Tess Cohen of the city’s special narcotics office. Feygin directed the bulk of his urinalysis tests to Brook-Krasny’s clinic. The former assemblyman allegedly ordered unnecessary tests to get bogus insurance reimbursements and deleted positive alcohol results from patients’ reports. The clinics requested the doctored labs so they could continue to prescribe oxycodone to patients who were drinking excessively — a dangerous combination, officials said. “It is clear from intercepted conversations that Mr. Brook-Krasny knows these were pill mills,” Cohen said. Justice Neil Ross set bail at $100,000. The ex-assemblyman previously said he quit his $92,000-a-year job to take a higher-paying position in the private sector. He faces five counts of conspiracy, health care fraud and scheme to defraud.*

No felony charge for Brooklyn assemblywoman accused of beating son;Diana Richardson still faces 1 year at Rikers (NYDN) Brooklyn prosecutors dropped a felony assault charge against a state politician accused of beating her pre-teen son with a broomstick. Assemblywoman Diana Richardson was arrested on Nov. 5 when her 12-year-old son walked into the 71st Precinct to complain about his mother, who allegedly left his arm bruised after the beating. Richardson, 33, was initially charged with felony and misdemeanor assault charges, but after “careful consideration” and speaking to the child’s father, prosecutors dismissed the top offense. Richardson, who represents Brooklyn’s 43rd Assembly District, also has a modified order of protection through family court and is allowed to see her son during unsupervised visits at the child’s father’s home.

Wills Shows Up Late For His Corruption Trial, Judge Threatens JailsJudge threatens to jail councilman after he shows up late for court (NYP) An irate judge threatened to jail a Queens councilman Tuesday after the embattled politician arrived 26 minutes late to his court appearance. Ruben Wills, who is headed to trial on charges related to the accusations he stole more than $30,00 in taxpayer money, offered no excuse for his tardiness. “I will issue a warrant for your arrest, and the case will go on,” warned Queens Criminal Court Judge Ira Margulis. “When I say 2 o’clock, I mean 2 o’clock,” he seethed. “This is the last warning I will give you.” Margulis even went so far as to say he might “consider a bail application” from prosecutors if that is what it would take to get Wills to court on time. Wills appeared relaxed and unfazed at the prospect of jail as his lawyer Steve Zissou spoke to the judge in chambers. A trial date was set for Jan. 9. Wills will return for preliminary hearings Nov. 30.

Councilman Rubin Will Arrested Two and A Half Years Ago STILL NO TRIAL?Wants Inmates to Vote

Bronx Pols Who Cheated on Absentee Ballots Says the Voters Still Trust Him

Bronx politician pleads guilty in absentee ballot schemefor Assembly election (NYDN) A Bronx politician who was just two votes shy from being elected to the state Assembly pleaded guilty Tuesday to criminally tampering with ballots. Hector Ramirez, who ran again this fall despite an indictment hanging over his head, said he would not rule out another bid for office — after serving a three-year ban. Dozens of victims had testified that Ramirez and his allies tricked them into voting on their behalf during the 2014 Democratic primary, prosecutors said. Ramirez's staff knocked on voters' doors and convinced them to sign an absentee ballot, insisting that they did not need to go to the polls, court papers state. Prosecutors charged that Ramirez and his team then wrote in Ramirez's name on the forged ballots and handed them into the Board of Elections. The 242-count indictment did not stop him from running against Pichardo again in the west Bronx 86th District this fall. Pichardo was reelected. As a court officer led him down the hallway to take a DNA sample — a condition of the plea — Ramirez insisted the community he admitted to repeatedly duping would still trust him enough to one day elect him to public office. "The community trusts me, the community believes in me," he told The News, "because everybody knows how justice works, especially in Bronx County."

A Bill That Will Never Pass Will Allow Recall of Pols After Felony Charges LOL

Bill would allow for recall of indicted politicians like Mangano(NYDN) After being indicted on federal corruption charges last week, Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano resisted immediate calls to resign by Nassau County state Senate Republicans. But he may have had no choice if a bill passed the Senate this year had become law. The bill would allow the public to seek a recall election of elected officials—including county executives—if they are indicted on felony charges related to their public offices or convicted of a misdemeanor. * Cuomo raised eyebrows at a fundraiser for state Senate Democrats in Manhattan on Tuesday by saying he would oppose fellow Democrats who aren’t on board with his socially progressive, fiscally conservative agenda, the Daily News reports.

Even Ex-Assemblyman Have A Hard Time Obeying the Law

Ex-pol keeps using official plates despite promising to hand them over (NYP) A former Brooklyn legislator who kept his official license plates after leaving office last July is still cruising around with the tags — even after promising to turn them in when he was caught three months ago. I don’t know what to say,” ex-Assemblyman Alec Brook-Krasny told The Post Wednesday. “I just didn’t think it was a big deal.” When he was first spotted by The Post with “NY Assembly” plates on his two cars in February, Brook-Krasny claimed he had been too lazy to deal with long DMV lines to get new ones. Traffic agents historically avoid ticketing vehicles with official plates. Brook-Krasny, 58, stepped down last July after representing Coney Island since 2007

From Elected Office to Prison to Elected Office Monserrate Gonzalez Plot Return to Elective Office

Ex-state senators return from prison to plot political futures (NYP) Even after spending years in the clink, these Albany felons are raring to return to the scene of the crime. Former state Sens. Hiram Monserrate and Efrain Gonzalez Jr. are plotting political comebacks after serving prison time for fraud and conspiracy convictions, sources have told The Post. Monserrate, 48, is running for district leader and backing candidates in the JacksonHeights, Queens, neighborhood he represented in the City Council and Senate, three sources confirmed. “He is running a slate. He is running for district leader,” a Queens political source said. “Hiram is actively recruiting people and holding meetings with his old crew. He is laying the solid groundwork to qualify.” Gonzalez, 67, has been busy hawking his biography and planning how to run for his former Senate seat or the Assembly or Council seats in his West Bronx district, sources said. “He’s mulling options,” a Bronx political source said. Both felons can run for office again only if a judge reverses their corruption convictions. But Monserrate might be able to run for the unpaid party post because the state public-corruption statute’s position on such jobs has not been tested in court. Monserrate in April lost his appeal to reverse his conspiracy and mail-fraud convictions. He did not return calls. Gonzalez is appealing his fraud and conspiracy convictions in state Appellate Court and was coy about his future plans. “I’m going to be active in the same way, but, politically, I don’t know,” he told The Post. “I have so much experience, but you don’t have to be elected to be effective.” Monserrate was found guilty of misdemeanor assault in 2009 for slicing then-girlfriend Karla Giraldo’s face with a broken drinking glass on Dec. 19, 2008. His colleagues expelled him from the Senate on Feb. 9, 2010. While he was locked up, his bunkmate Brian Madden wrote a fawning biography of Gonzalez, titled “The Move Behind the Move: The Rise and Fall and Rise of Efrain Gonzalez Jr.” In the book, Gonzalez insists the feds railroaded his career and boasts that he had six girlfriends while in office, with the author likening him to a mythical hero and a famed porn star. “Keeping six women . . . happy and fulfilled was a task for Hercules, if not Harry Reems,” Madden wrote.

State leaders set aside $19 billion in “non-specific funds” in the latest $155.6 billion budget, which the government watchdog group Citizens Union said could be a source for corruption, the New York Post reports.

The lawyer for Thomas W. Libous, a former top New York State senator, has moved to have his late client’s corruption conviction vacated based on the doctrine known as abatement by death.

Boyland Chief of Staff Does Not Want to Go to Jail Corruption Hot

The ex-lover and former chief of staff of convicted former Brooklyn Assemblyman William Boyland Jr. is asking for a sentence of just probation for her involvement in his bribery schemes. *

Ex-lover of disgraced politician pleas for no jail time (NYP) The ex-lover of convicted former Brooklyn Assemblyman William Boyland Jr. is asking for a sentence of just probation for her involvement in his bribery schemes. Ry-Ann Hermon, who served as Boyland’s chief of staff and was also romantically involved with the pol, is asking Judge Sandra Townes for no jail time ahead of sentencing in Brooklyn federal court Friday. Hermon — who notably told an undercover agent that a $1,000 payoff made her “so hot” — cooperated with the feds.

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While Hermon faces up to 87 months, her defense attorney, Douglas Byrne, asked the judge in a letter to consider that “the only financial gain Ms. Hermon received from her conduct was $2,100.”

Bronx AssemblywomanCarmen Arroyo avoids prosecution over possible misuse of campaign funds (NYDN)
Veteran Bronx Democrat Assemblywoman Carmen Arroyo escaped prosecution
over the possible personal use of her campaign funds, including
purchases at a casino, the Daily News has learned. The case was referred
to Attorney General Eric Schneiderman's office for potential criminal
prosecution in July 2015 by the state Board of Elections, but the matter
has been closed without charges being brought. The referral had been
triggered by an investigation by BOE Chief Enforcement Officer Risa
Sugarman. "We conducted a full investigation into the matter, which did
not uncover any evidence of criminal intent," a Schneiderman spokesman
said. Sugarman wrote that her office found "a number of irregularities,
including a number of 'loans' allegedly made in 2014" by the campaign
committee to Arroyo, whose name was redacted. At least one of the loans
appeared to have been paid directly to Empire City Casino in Yonkers,
Sugarman wrote. In total, $3,322 in campaign funds was either withdrawn
from an ATM located at the casino or used to make at least one direct
purchase at the facility, Sugarman found. According to a footnote in the
letter, a January 2015 bank statement from Chase indicates that a
"loan" of $518 made on Jan. 2 of that year was a "card purchase" made to
Empire City Casino. Under state law, it is a misdemeanor violation to
"knowingly and willfully" use campaign funds for personal use unrelated
to a political campaign or the holding of a public office or party
position. A source familiar with the investigation said Schneiderman's
office found that the withdrawals and charges were reimbursed shortly
after the transactions. But Associate Board of Elections Enforcement
Counsel Douglas Goglia wrote in a memo to Sugarman included with her
referral letter that even if money was ultimately reimbursed, "the use
of campaign contributions to finance... personal gambling excursions to
the Empire City Casino has to be unlawful." The campaign the letter says
also has at least 18 outstanding judgments totaling $12,318 dating back
to July 2006 that stem from a failure to file campaign finance reports.
"I have determined that reasonable cause exists for the Attorney
General to investigate any indictable offense or offenses or individuals
associated with this investigation regarding Penal Law and New York
State Election Law crimes," Sugarman wrote. It's not the first time a
trip to a casino has proven controversial for Arroyo. The assemblywoman
filed a financial disclosure report with the state in 2013 claiming she
made no outside income the previous year. But month later she amended
the form to say she received $28,467 in casino gambling assets.

Why Didn't The NY1 Reporter Ask The Speaker How A Councilman Avoiding Justice is Still A Standing Member on the Council?

City Councilman Ruben Wills' seat has been empty a lot lately. The indicted Queens Councilman has not been to City Hall since December, and he has not been to his court appearances, either. Wills is on medical leave, and that illness is the latest hiccup delaying his corruption trial. It was nearly two years ago that the Queens Councilman was charged by the state attorney general with grand larceny and filing false business records. He is accused of stealing public tax dollars from a nonprofit group he founded. "I am not resigning on charges," Wills said in May 2014. "This is America, people. We are presumed innocent before you are proven guilty." It did not end there for Wills. Less than a year later, the attorney general brought more charges, this time in Manhattan criminal court, claiming Wills had not disclosed income he made from a private business on his city conflict of interest form. "We don't even understand what the charges are in this point in time, but what I can say is, I am innocent and I look forward to my day in court," Wills said. Both of those cases have stalled. The attorney general's office unusually and successfully removed Wills' attorney from the Manhattan case last year, claiming the AG's office wanted to call that attorney as a witness. That so-called conflict issue has seeped into the Queens case. A judge must determine whether that attorney, Steve Zissou, can fairly serve in Queens after he was kicked off the case in Manhattan.That decision cannot happen until Wills comes to court. Wills' attorney told us he has a serious medical issue with an uncertain prognosis. He could not comment any further. Wills' attendance record was not stellar prior to his illness. Since his original indictment in May of 2014, the councilman has missed 87 meetings or hearings at City Hall. That means he has made just 55 percent of them. Wills has another court appearance scheduled this week. He is not expected to be there. * New York City Councilman Ruben Wills, the legally embattled Democrat, explained his chronic absence from City Hall and detailed personal and family issues that have kept him from tending to his district, Politico New Yorkreports:

Ex Assemblyman Now A Lobbyists Still Using His Official Car Plates

Blamed his inaction in changing the plates on “long lines” at the DMV

Ex-assemblyman still using official plates 8 months after resigning (NYP) A former Brooklyn assemblyman who resigned eight months ago is still cruising around town in vehicles bearing official legislative license plates that most traffic agents won’t ticket. Alec Brook-Krasny, who was the first Russian-born member of the state Legislature, was spotted Sunday and Monday with the specialized plates marked “Assembly” on two Nissan Pathfinder SUVs near his home in Sea Gate. He took a higher-paying position as chief operating officer of Quality Laboratory Services, a medical lab in SheepsheadBay. Asked Monday why he has yet to return the plates, Brook-Krasny initially said, “I don’t know.” Then he blamed his inaction on the “long lines” at Department of Motor Vehicles offices that he said he was intent on avoiding. “In fact, you might say I might be better having regular plates because I’m always stopped by constituents with questions whenever they see my cars.” Notified of the situation, DMV spokesman Joseph Morrissey said the agency would send Brook-Krasny standard replacement plates and a letter telling him he is no longer eligible to use the Assembly plates. Morrissey said that if Brook-Krasny continues to use the official plates, he risks being ticketed for improper registration.

More Designer News From the NYT to Protect Their Guy de Blasio on Homeless FU

Cuomo’s executive order on homeless people was confusing and seems like a move to exploit de Blasio’s weaknesses, but to really end the problem the pair needs to cooperate to build supportive housing and improve shelters, the Times writes:

So far, neither de Blasio nor Cuomo has real answers on the homeless (NYP) Sometimes Gov. Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio truly deserve each other — as when it comes to dealing with the homeless. Because so far neither man seems serious about getting these folks off the streets — even in the cold. Recall that when The Post spotlighted the surge of aggressive panhandlers and vagrants using streets as bathrooms, de Blasio denied it. Half a year later, he still has no plan to fix the problem. Even now, he claims “temperature alone doesn’t necessarily constitute” a reason to take a person to a shelter. “If someone’s not in danger, the law says that they still have rights to make that decision themselves.” Huh? Who wouldn’t be “in danger” living on the streets in below-freezing temps? Yet Cuomo isn’t moving to change the law — let alone to take folks off the streets in warm weather, which is only slightly less cruel.* Cuomo’s order to remove homeless people during frigid weather angered some living in the streets who fear it would lead to harassment, complained about shelter conditions or called for more affordable housing, the Times reports: * Cuomo took another swipe de Blasio’s handling of the homeless, charging that people live in the streets because they’re afraid of the city’s unsafe and dirty shelters, the Post reports: * As part of the de Blasio administration’s effort to overhaul homelessness services, the city will end its use of private apartments, known as “clusters,” to house the homeless, and convert them into low-rent housing, the Observer writes: * Daily News says that Cuomo’s executive order ongetting homeless people off the streets in freezing temperatures would “change lots,” writing that New York City’s response will show how in sync de Blasio and Bratton are with the governor* The city’s homeless shelters are a last resort for many New Yorkers, but they’re attractingan increasing number of people from out of town. Roughly 1 in 6 adult couples and 1 in 10 families with kids who enter the shelters gave a previous address from outside the five boroughs.* City-run lodging for homeless families has become a wretched refuge, plagued by thousands of serious code violations, a comprehensive new report by NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer has found. In response, de Blasio will announce a “substantially increased” effort to identify problems and quickly upgrade shelter conditions. * Cuomo’s executive order on homelessness is drawing a mixed, muted response from municipalities across the state: Some are taking incremental actions and others aren’t doing much of anything.

Judge doesn’t buy ‘scam’ witness’ sick daughter excuse (NYP) The Queens man who bolted from court Tuesday before he could enter a guilty plea expected to implicate City Councilman Ruben Wills in a corruption scheme got an earful Wednesday from an angry judge who didn’t take long to throw him in jail. Jelani Mills didn’t do himself any favors with his lame excuse, either, telling Judge Barry Kron that he’d skipped out because his daughter wasn’t feeling well. “He has a 9-year-old daughter and his daughter had an illness at school,” Mills’ attorney Scott Davis told the judge. “His wife is a schoolteacher who was unable to [help].” But Kron, who issued a fugitive warrant for Mills after he ducked out of court around noon Tuesday, wasn’t buying it. According to two sources, Wills is sick in a hospital and is not expected to return to the City Council for at least two weeks. He did not return calls Wednesday.

Indicted CM Wills Key Witness Disappears and the Media Does Not Ask the Councilman the Speaker WTF?

A man expected to implicate Queens City Councilman Ruben Wills on corruption charges Tuesday bolted from the courthouse just before proceedings started, and the judge issued an arrest warrant for him

Co-defendant in corrupt councilman case goes missing from court (NYP) A Queens man who was expected to implicate a sitting city councilman on corruption charges Tuesday bolted the courthouse just before the proceeding started — leaving his lawyer in the lurch and the judge fuming. Justice Barry Kron issued an arrest warrant for Jelani Mills, who was in court to plead guilty to crimes that involved his co-defendant, Queens Councilman Ruben Wills, but fled sometime after noon. His blindsided attorney, Scott Davis, had no explanation for Kron on why Mills was a no-show when the case was called in Queens Supreme Court. “It was my understanding that the district attorney is prepared to resolve this case — and it’s not ­going to be resolved,” Kron said, referring to the charges brought by state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. Mills, 29, and Wills, 44, were charged in scams in which theyallegedly fleeced tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars through nonprofits. In two indictments brought over the past two years, Wills and Mills were charged with a dozen counts that include fraud, grand larceny and falsifying business records. They’re accused of defrauding the city Campaign Finance Board by accepting public funds to pay a shell company, Micro Targeting, purportedly to provide campaign-related services for Wills’ losing 2009 race for City Council. Mills allegedly filed the paperwork creating the company and billed Wills’ campaign $11,500 for work that was never performed. nstead, some of the funds allegedly were funneled to a shady nonprofit, New York 4 Life, that was founded by Wills. Wills also is charged with stealing more than $30,000 in other state taxpayer money from New York 4 Life — and using some of the cash for shopping sprees at Macy’s, Nordstrom’s and Century 21 that included the purchase of a $750 Louis Vuitton handbag. Wills received the state funding through a pork-barrel grant obtained by ex-Queens state Sen. Shirley Huntley, who was later sentenced to prison in a separate case of public corruption. Wills had served as Huntley’s chief of staff.

Wills Who Was Indicted By the AG Over A Year Ago is Still Doing Pay to Play Deal With His Lobbyists Campaign Manager

TRASHY POL: Indicted Queens Councilman slams proposal that hurts campaign donor (NYDN) An indicted Queens pol with the worst attendance record on the City Council showed up to hearings of a committee he doesn’t sit on to blast proposals that threaten to hurt a campaign donor. Councilman Ruben Wills — a Democrat who has received $3,000 from donors tied to Royal Waste and Regal Recycling — slammed a commercial trash handling proposal that would carve the city into zones, and assign each area to one chosen waste company, at a sanitation committee hearing April 29. Wills has received $3,000 from owners, managers and family members of Royal and Regal, which runs a complex of waste transfer and recycling facilities in southeast Queens outside his district. He also got $750 from the companies directly — which had to be returned because corporate contributions are banned under city rules. Last year, he had the worst attendance rate of anyone on the 51 member Council — blowing off 27% of the meetings he was supposed to attend.

Wills is facing a slew of corruption charges — including allegations he stole public campaign funds and used them on Louis Vuitton, Nordstrom and other personal purchases; and that he took a state member item for a sham charity but pocketed most of it. A separate indictment this year charged him with filing false statements with the Conflicts of Interest Board. A political consulting firm formerly employed by Wills, Connective Strategies, has been paid $6,000 by Regal to lobby the Council against that bill. “There is no conflict,” said Connective President Tyquana Henderson, who said she has not lobbied Wills on the matter.Lobbyists Henderson Was Wills Campaign ManagerMr. Wills was arrested as part of a separate case in May and charged in a 12-count indictment with using tens of thousands of dollars in campaign and taxpayer money to enrich himself, buying items such as a $750 Louis Vuitton handbag, authorities said. Candidates Represented by Henderson's Connective Strategies

Lobbyists Henderson Was Wills Campaign Manager

The arrest of Queens Councilman Ruben Wills is a reality check for those who tout public financing of campaigns as the key to cleaning up Albany. Welcome to the notoriously sleazy Legislature in Albany, where gaming the campaign finance laws is an art form. A see-no-evil Board of Elections, which is party-controlled and paralyzed in the face of runaway lawbreaking. Good money after bad (NYDN) The arrest of Ruben Wills should give public campaign finance enthusiasts pause. During his first, failed run for the City Council in 2009, Wills collected $139,818 in public money from the CFB — 79% of his total budget. According to the indictment from Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, Wills then secretly funneled $11,500 of his campaign funds to a nonprofit group he controlled, NY4Life, and glommed the money for strictly personal expenses — such as buying a $750 Louis Vuitton handbag.

Wills Indicted for A Not-For-Profit Scam Was An Aide for Ex-Senator Huntley Convicted of Another Not-For-Profit Scam

Wills personally submitted a voucher with the state Office of Children and Family Services on behalf of the group in 2010. But Wills declined to answer questions and invoked his Fifth Amendment rights when he was asked about the missing funds by investigators last year. Wills, a former aide to ex-state Sen. Shirley Huntley, who was convicted in another not-for-profit scam. The councilman is also being probe for steering funds to another non profit group, the Young Leaders Institute. Wills and a relative on his payroll, Jelani Mills, were arrested and being processed at the 112th Pct. in Forest Hills.*New York City Councilman Ruben Wills Charged in Fraud ... (May 7, 2014) * City Councilman Pleads Guilty to 1996 Misdemeanor * Indicted NYC Councilman Ruben Wills has worst attendance record among current members, records show:(NYDN) * Wills accuses AG of bias over use of image in campaign ad(NYP) State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is being accused of unfairly smearing an indicted Queens lawmaker by including him in a TV campaign ad, The Post has learned. City Councilman Ruben Wills is now trying to turn the tables, demanding that Schneiderman be removed as the prosecutor in his case for violating a court rule barring prejudicial pretrial publicity against a defendant. Schneiderman’s 30-second TV commercial shows news footage of Wills — handcuffed from behind — being “perp walked” to a vehicle by two police officers. *Schneiderman, at Columbia,laments the state of politics (Capital) “I’m proud of the fact that in the last three and half years—probably every month or so—we have done something that no one has ever done before,” Schneiderman told the gathering. “We change the way people are doing business and the way that governments are operating.”

No Jail Time for Skelos's Number 2 Libous

No Jail Time For Libous (YNN) * Former state Sen. Thomas Libous was sentenced to two years of probation, six months of home confinement and a $50,000 fine for lying to federal agents during a corruption investigation, avoiding jail time due to his terminal prostate cancer, theTimes reports: *

No Jail Time for Former Senator Thomas Libous (NY1) * Thomas Libous, a former deputy majority leader of the state Senate who is dying of cancer, was sentenced to six months of home confinement and two years of probation for lying to federal agents who were investigating whether he used his political influence to get his son a job. Libous said he plans to appeal. *No Jail Time For Libous (YNN) * Former state Sen. Thomas Libous was sentenced to two years of probation, six months of home confinement and a $50,000 fine for lying to federal agents during a corruption investigation, avoiding jail time due to his terminal prostate cancer, theTimes reports:

@JeffKleinNYhad triple the earmarksof the next-closest senator, Dean Skelos. Skelos was majority leader (PoliticoNY) * Nearly $8 million in new capital project money publicly itemized for the first time by the Senate GOP is tied to five men no longer serving in the chamber. The money, which critics decry as pork-barrel spending, makes up nearly 11 percent of the total $74.7 million unveiled by Senate Republicans. * NY lawmakers keep the secret spending alive (NYP Ed) Member items let individual legislators send cash to their favored projects — until too many lawmakers got caught gifting funds indirectly to friends and family. The money is washed through an appropriation for the State and Municipal Facilities Program — and individual politicians have been deciding where the grants go, with zero public accountability. Politico asked about the spending weeks ago, but got no answers until a Freedom of Information Law filing got both chambers to cough up the facts. The state Senate spent $73 million over the past three years — all in the hands of the Republicans and Independent Democrats who ran the chamber.

These were budget appropriations doled out by individual members of the Legislature to favored groups as a way to buy votes. For a time, they were banished. Now, they’re back in a fashion designed to de-pork the pork a bit. Even if the money is more wisely spent, partisanship still holds sway, with the leadership of the Assembly and Senate giving out funds almost exclusively to members of their controlling parties. Such is the way of politics, but partisanship in Albany knows no bounds of pettiness. The Senate, run by Republicans, has a new website. In listing senators’ political parties, the GOP names its chief rivals as members of the Democrat Party, not the Democratic Party, because, the Republicans insist, they are small “d” democratic, too. They’ll never grow up.* Senate Democrats, bypassed on earmarks, prepare their ownlists * State Sen. Jeff Klein’s “newspaper” is full of good news about the legislative earmarks the Independent Democratic Conference co-leader was able to bring home for his district, the Gotham Gazette writes:

Former state Sen. Shirley Huntley, who was released from prison last year after serving time for corruption, is in trouble again. The Queens Democrat owes nearly $751 in unpaid income taxes from 2012 to the state, officials confirmed. A tax warrant was issued by the state in December seeking to collect the money.

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said that legislative ethics, in part, come down to individual lawmakers’ decisions and that he was leaning toward allowing legislators to keep outside employment, the Times Union reports: h

The late Sid Zion’s observation that in Albany, it’s always two parties against the people

Prosecutors say common themes run through many of the political corruption cases: lack of transparency on a politician’s outside employment, nonprofits staffed by cronies and used as personal piggy banks, greed and above-the-law arrogance. During their federal trials in Brooklyn, ex-Brooklyn Assemblyman William Boyland Jr. drove to the courthouse with a suspended driver’s license, and Sampson parked his SUV in a no-parking zone protected by a placard in the window claiming he was on “official” state business. The feds in Manhattan and Brooklyn have aggressively investigated pols using techniques, like flipping co-conspirators, wiretaps, undercover agents and video surveillance, which have been employed effectively against organized crime. “The U.S. attorney in Manhattan generally believes Albany is corrupt and that the politicians are not acting in the public interest, so that’s the area where he is going to focus,” said lawyer Bradley Simon, a former federal prosecutor who represented ex-state Controller Alan Hevesi on corruption charges. Before Cuomo put the Moreland Commission out of business, then-Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch testified before the commission that the corruption cases have a corrosive effect on society and weaken the political system as well. “Those officials who are truly trying to do good are cast in the same light as those who are engaging in wrongdoing, rendering them less effective,” said Lynch, who is now the U.S. attorney general.

Scarborough Sentenced To 13 Months (YNN) Democratic former Assemblyman Bill Scarborough was sentenced on Monday to 13 months in prison and two years of supervised released after he pleaded guilty to state and federal corruption charges. The 69-year-old former Queens lawmaker is also being ordered to pay $53,355 in restitution to the state and forfeit the same amount to the federal government.Scarborough’s guilty plea in May to charges that he misused campaign funds and federal charges that he improperly sought per diem payments automatically ejected him from the Assembly.* Assemblyman gets 13 months in jail for bogus travel expenses (NYP) * Lawyer seeking letters for Libous. via @WBNGActionNewshttp://images.bimedia.net/documents/Libous+Letter.pdf … * Federal prosecutors reject former state Senate Majority Leader Thomas Libous’ push for a new trial, arguing that evidence was “more than sufficient” to support his July felony conviction, Gannett Albany reports: * JCOPE and the Legislative Ethics Commission need to explain why Assemblyman Keith Wright can keep getting reimbursed for the same expenses, and the Legislature needs to look at its supposedly new-and-improved rules on expenses, the Times Union writes: * Federal prosecutors are pushing back against former Senate Majority Leader Thomas Libous’ quest for a new trial, arguing that the evidence was “more than sufficient” to support his felony conviction in July.

Assembly paying $256G for sexual harassment issues (NYDN) The Assembly over the past month paid out $256,000 to law firms working on sexual harassment-related issues involving lawmakers who are no longer in office, state Controller Thomas DiNapoli reported Tuesday. The Senate during that period paid another $381,000 to an outside law firm for legal fees related to the defense of former state Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, who ultimately was acquitted of federal corruption charges.

Queens lawmaker warns staff to clean up any ‘baby-mama drama’ (NYP) Spooked by federal prosecutor Preet Bharara’s crackdown on Albany, a Queens lawmaker warned his staffers to keep their noses clean in case any investigator tried to turn them against him. State Sen. James Sanders told employees late last year that the feds were investigating him and that anyone with “baby-mama drama” or a “white powder issue” should resolve it immediately, said a source close to Sanders. He said, ‘The Department of Justice has launched an investigation, and they will turn over every rock to try to get to me,’ ” the source recalled.

State Board Makes Junkets OK

Just Like At What Happen to Junket King Malcolm Smith

New campaign leisure spending ruling leaves ‘gray area’ (NYP) Political candidates can use campaign funds to pay for trips that mix business and pleasure, the state Board of Elections has ruled. In contentious voting Tuesday, board members voted to allow funds to be used on such mixed junkets, providing that expenses are broken down and campaign funds pay only for a portion of the trip. Although it wasn’t immediately clear how the costs would be divided, critics predicted the worst. “They’re going to use that [ruling] for airfare and lodging,” one detractor at the meeting griped. FlashbackSmith blew $2M in elex cash (NYP) State Sen. Malcolm Smith blew through more than $2 million in campaign cash over five years — bunking at ritzy hotels, dining at four-star restaurants and even traveling to China, campaign- finance records show. The lavish spending included a November 2011 junket to China, where Smith and his entourage forked over $1,148 to stay at the Beijing Grand and about $2,500 for other lodgings.

When Pedro Loves A Woman She Get the Corrupt Pols Pension

Judge uses ‘When a Man Loves a Woman’ lyrics to render decision (NYP) Brooklyn federal ​J​udge ​Frederic Block ​ruled Wednesday that the wife of disgraced​ ex-state Sen. Pedro Espada Jr. will be awarded his pension when he​r husband dies ​– and quoted ​’60s​ ​crooner Percy Sledge in arriving at his lovestruck decision. “The opening lyrics to the late great Percy Sledge ​s​ong ‘When a Man Loves a Woman’ come readily to mind,” swooned Block​ who then quoted the song’s lyrics in his decision: ”‘When a man loves a woman, can’t keep his mind on nothing else, he’ll trade the world, for what he’s found​,​”​ Block wrote.​ The feds had been snatching Espada’s pension to help pay back $368,088 in restitution stemming from his corruption conviction for raiding a Bronx non-profitand filing false tax returns.

The state Board of Elections enforcement unit has referred seven cases for potential criminal prosecution to district attorneys and state officials since the unit started nearly a year ago

State probe intopols lead to 7 criminal referrals (NYDN) In more bad news for corrupt politicians, the new state Board of Elections enforcement unit has referred seven cases for potential criminal prosecution since it started work almost a year ago. Some were referred to local district attorneys and others to the state attorney general's office, said Board of Elections Chief Enforcement Officer Risa Sugarman. "We look at personal use (of campaign funds)," she said. "We take deep dives into the financial disclosure or the lack of financial disclosure and violations of election law." And there's more criminal referrals potentially coming. Sugarman indicated there are eight open cases her office is handling in which subpoenas have been issued. All told, Sugarman said since last September she has asked the four-member Board of Elections for permission to issue subpoenas in 19 cases. Two were rejected and 17 went forward, with Sugarman forced to twice cast a tie-breaking vote. The enforcement unit was created amid controversy as part of a 2014 ethics package approved by the Legislature only after Gov. Cuomo agreed to abruptly shut down his anti-corruption Moreland Commissionthat had been investigating state government corruption. *

While this year’s state budget purportedly banned the personal use of campaign funds, legislators are continuing to spend their money exactly as they had before it passed, Capital New York reports

Lawyers Representing Pols Make Big $$$

Lawyers of investigated city, state politicians enjoy big paydays (NYP) Some of the biggest winners this campaign cycle aren’t candidates, but their lawyers. City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito’s campaign spent more than $75,000 on legal fees over the last six months after questions were raised about irregularities in her bid to lead the council. The Conflicts of Interest Board is probing pro-bono work Mark-Viverito received in late 2013 from The Advance Group, despite rules barring her from accepting gifts or services valued above $50. Over the last filing period, more than half of Mark-Viverito’s $148,500 in total spending went to the legal firm, Ballard Spahr, connected to that probe. State Sen. George Maziarz of Buffalo, who didn’t run for re-election last year, spent $43,000 on lawyers amid an investigation by US Attorney Preet Bharara into his previous campaign spending. The Post earlier reported that Gov. Cuomo shelled out $100,000 as Bharara looked into his activities disbanding the graft-fighting Moreland

Commission.

Assembly Lawyers Outside Income $4.2 Million

Report: Lawyer-Legislators Earned As Much As $4.2M Combined (YNN) An analysis released by the Lawsuit Reform Alliance of New York on Tuesday found state lawmakers who are also practicing attorneys combined earned millions of dollars in outside income on top of their $79,500 base pay. The analysis, based on the recently filed annual income statements lawmakers and state elected officials are required to file with the Joint Commission on Public Ethics, found the outside income could total as much as $4.2 million for lawmakers who are also attorneys.

Member Items Reelection Funds

Leaders of the state Legislature defended a new earmarking program, brushing off charges that it's “pork” and unfairly distributed to favor the politically powerful, Politico New York reports: * Legislative leaders defended a new earmarking program, brushing off charges that it’s “pork” and unfairly distributed to favor the politically powerful. “If you want to call putting security cameras in a housing development that has a lot of crime pork, so be it; give me another ham sandwich,” Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said.

Pols Abandoned Boyland Facing 19 Years In the Can

Facing 19 years in prison for his corruption conviction, former Brooklyn Assemblyman William Boyland Jr. can’t muster a single character letter from a current or former politician, the Daily News reports: *

Albany's Leadership Retirement Village is A Jail CellPedro Espada In Jail, Smith Sentenced, Sampson and Libous on Trial, Silver and Skelos Waiting to Go on Trail

Libous trial startsMonday (LoHud) The trial of state Sen. Thomas Libous is the latest legal battle for a New York political figure caught in U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara's war on corruption. It should also be the swan song of cooperation for Anthony Mangone, a disbarred Westchester lawyer and political fixer who has already helped Bharara's prosecutors convict two former state senators and an ex-councilwoman from Yonkers. While not charged specifically with corruption, Libous is accused of lying to FBI agents when they questioned him about how his son Matthew landed a job at Mangone's firm. Jury selection gets underway Monday morning before U.S. District Judge Vincent Briccetti in White Plains. Matthew Libous, son of state Sen. Thomas Libous, could be called to testify in his father’s trial. He was convicted earlier this year of tax fraud.

The Democrats have only controlled the Senate for two years since 1966, and two of their three leaders in that brief interlude are now felons, with the other, John Sampson, on trial. *

Sheldon Silver used allegedly corrupt cash to give out $800G in loans (NYP) Silver also gave between $500,000 and $750,000 to Counsel Financial, an upstate firm that loans money to law firms waiting for big payouts. Silver has collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in interest for these loans over the years. But federal prosecutors in April seized $100,000 of the money Silver loaned to Counsel Financial.They had already taken $3.7 million when they charged the Manhattan Democrat in a bribery and kickback scheme. * The first witnesses were called in the trial of Republican Sen. Tom Libous, who is accused of lying to the FBI regarding his son receiving a job at a law firm. * Prosecutors insisted Libous lied to the FBI and denied any involvement in helping son gain employment with the law firm.

More Senator Sanders Non-Profit Abuse

Politician used $1M of taxpayers’ money to host ‘parties’ (NYP)Queens lawmaker James Sanders put on free concerts, distributed flowers and gave seniors all-expenses-paid weekends in the Poconos — all with taxpayer dollars and the help of a local nonprofit whose mission was supposed to be senior housing. Sanders, a former city councilman now serving as a state senator, steered nearly $1 million in taxpayer money to Margert Community Corp. over a six-year period. The Rockaways, Queens, group in turn spent thousands in pork-barrel cash boosting the popularity of its biggest benefactor. The spending is now under investigation by US Attorney Preet Bharara’s office. At least two former Sanders staffers and two non-profit operators have been questioned by the FBI and three of them told The Post they were questioned about Margert. The Post revealed last week that Sanders in 2012 allegedly demanded a $250,000 kickback from the operators of another Rockaways non-profit after offering the tiny group $1.7 million in government funding. When Sanders put on his annual “Senior Extravaganza” at the lakefront Woodloch resort in the Poconos, Margert played a key role. Three busloads of guests enjoyed lavish meals, swimming in an indoor pool, horseback riding and sledding in the Pennsylvania countryside. “Margert paid for the buses,” said Mike Duvalle, who worked for Sanders and attended the weekend retreats.

Politician demanded $250K bribe for funding nonprofit: suit (NYP) A couple who run a small urban farm said powerful Queens lawmaker James Sanders offered them $1.7 million in taxpayer money to fund their operation — then demanded a $250,000 kickback. Marion Moses and Malisa Rivera said they refused Sanders, then a city councilman, during a 2012 sit-down. Sanders, now a state senator running for Congress, became irate, and the couple believe their charity has been blacklisted by government officials ever since, they told The Post. Three weeks ago, Moses filed a civilian crime report with the office of Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara. Sources said the feds were already investigating Sanders for steering City Council discretionary funds to other nonprofits. Mike Duvalle, a former Sanders staffer, told The Post that he met with the FBI last month in connection with that probe.

But Will Vishnu Mahaedo On Sanders Staff Take the Polygraph Test Also?

According to Rivera and Moses — former chefs looking to fund their community garden and agriculture program for kids — Sanders summoned them to his Far Rockaway office on Sept. 25, 2012, fresh off his victory over Sen. Shirley Huntley in a Senate Democratic primary. He said he wanted to discuss government grants. The couple walked in to find Donovan Richards, then Sanders’ chief of staff, and an aide, Michael Lopes. Richards is now a city councilman. Sanders greeted them and allegedly said he had some money for them — $1.7 million. Moses made what turned out to be a prescient joke: “How much do you want? Do you want that in check or cash?”Sanders smirked.* Watch out, New York: The Legislature is in session (NYP Ed)

Council Membes Halloran, Seabrook and Wills All Were Convicted or Indicted On Ripping Off Non-Profits and Member Items Contract, Which Higher Pay Will Not Stop

Rubin Wills Ruben Wills, Queens city councilman, busted - NY Daily News * Councilman Seabrook of NYC Convicted in Corruption Case(NYT) From 2002 through 2009, SEABROOK directed numerous city contracts valued at more than $2 million to purportedly independent non-profit organizations supposedly doing community-benefit work in the north Bronx. In fact, however, SEABROOK controlled these non-profit organizations, negotiating the leasing of their office space, creating their budgets, and making their personnel decisions. The non-profit organizations SEABROOK controlled were funded exclusively by funds allocated by the Council, primarily at the direction of SEABROOK. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in Council funds received by the non-profit organizations were disbursed among SEABROOK’s girlfriend, brother, two sisters, and nephew. SEABROOK knew these non-profit organizations were not doing enough legitimate work to justify the funds they were receiving from the Council, so to continue the City’s disbursement of funds, SEABROOK and others made misrepresentations to the City and to the Council. Specifically, they failed to disclose that the non-profit organizations were associated with SEABROOK, that the organizations lacked the ability to perform the contracts being awarded to them, and that the funds allocated to the organizations would benefit SEABROOK’s friends and family. SEABROOK and others also made false and inflated claims to the City and to the Council about the expenses that the non-profit organizations were incurring. * Dan Halloran gets 10 years in prison - Queens Chronicle ... * Dan Halloran guilty of masterminding failed $200K bribery scheme (NYP) Former City Councilman Dan Halloran was found guilty Tuesday of masterminding a failed $200,000 bribery scheme to get Democratic state Sen. Malcolm Smith the Republican line in last year’s mayoral election. The jury agreed with the feds that Halloran pocketed $20,500 in cash bribes for masterminding cross-party negotiations to help fix the Republican mayoral primary for Smith. Halloran was also convicted for pocketing $18,300 in cash bribes and $6,500 in straw-donor campaign donations for agreeing to steer $80,000 of council discretionary funding for his district to a company he believed was controlled by those who paid him the bribes.

Julissa Ferreras,City Council’s budget watchdog, failed to stop Hiram Monserrate’s $100,000fraud (NYDN) The Queens Democrat named Wednesday as chairwoman of Council’s Finance Committee, to oversee the city's $50 billion budget, headed the board of the Latino Initiative for Better Resources and Empowerment when it was looted by the then-councilman. Julissa Ferreras, the Queens Democrat who was named Wednesday as chairwoman of Council’s Finance Committee, headed the board of directors of LIBRE, the Latino Initiative for Better Resources and Empowerment, when it was looted by then-Councilman Hiram Monserrate. As a Council member, Monserrate steered $300,000 in city funding to LIBRE and then diverted $109,000 of the money to pay people to work on his campaign for the state Senate. He later pleaded guilty to federal mail fraud and mail fraud conspiracy charges for the scam.

Corrupted Albany Reaps What its Sows and Cries Victim

How Can We Do Our Jobs Without Pay to Play? Without Campaign Contributions for Giving Jobs to Special Interests?

Legislating 101:Take notes, Albanypols, on how to do your job without being arrested on corruption charges (NYDN) After watching Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara’s takedown of both of the Legislature’s top leaders in a matter of weeks, the rank and file are terrified about who among them will be next. They’re especially leery, in DeFrancisco’s telling, of engaging in the last-minute wheeling and dealing that has greased Albany’s path to summer vacation since time immemorial. The members are worried: Will he try to make connections between campaign contributions to whatever gets done?” If, for example, the Republican-led Senate agreed to extend rent laws that expire Monday in return for Assembly Democrats passing a tax break to benefit parochial schools, would Bharara slap someone in handcuffs?*

‘Corrupt’ councilman must forfeit pension (NYP) Federal prosecutors can seize disgraced ex-City Councilman Larry Seabrook’s pension, a federal judge ruled Tuesday. Seabrook, who was sentenced to five years in jail after he was convicted on corruption charges in 2012, had fought the government’s attempt to make him forfeit his pension to make up the $418,252.53 he owes as a result of the conviction. But Manhattan federal court judge P. Kevin Castel ruled that while New York state may protect pensions from seizure, federal law takes precedent in this case. The Court concludes that New York’s restraints on the alienation of pension benefits do not foreclose federal forfeiture of a city or state pension benefit,” Castel wrote in his decision. * Judge Rules Larry Seabrook, Ex-New York Councilman, Must Forfeit His Pension(NYT)

Tom Libous

Senate Deputy Majority Leader Tom Libous’ attorney argues it is “impossible” to say the lawmaker’s bout with cancer isn’t relevant to the case without knowing what prosecutors’ arguments will be at trial.

Pedro Loses Again

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit denied an appeal brought by former State Senator Pedro Espada Jr., who pleaded guilty to tax evasion in October 2012.* Ex-senator Pedro Espada loses appeal to overturn conviction (NYP) * Disgraced former Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada’s bid to overturn his 2013 conviction and five-year sentence for looting his tax-funded nonprofit was tossed by a federal appeals court.

Grimm Ties to Stay Out of Jail

Former Staten Island Rep. Michael Grimm painted himself as a war hero, called on help from a Sandy victim and claimed he was a primary caregiver for ailing ex-StatenIsland Borough President Guy Molinari in a desperate bid to avoid prison time. He’ll be sentenced July 16.* Former Staten Island Rep. Michael Grimm painted himself as a war hero, called on help from a Sandy victim and claimed he was a primary caregiver for ailing ex-StatenIsland Borough President Guy Molinari in a desperate bid to avoid prison time. He’ll be sentenced July 16.

Halloran Jail Monday

Ex-Councilman Dan Halloran dodges prison for one more week (NYP) Halloran — who was found guilty last year of masterminding a failed $200,000 bribery scheme to get Democratic sta e Sen. Malcolm Smith on the Republican line in 2013’s mayoral election — was scheduled to surrender Monday to authorities. But the disgraced politician asked for an extension on his surrender date by one week, to June 8, because he “needs a short time to put his affairs in order,” according to court records. UpdateFormer Queens Councilman Daniel Halloran will surrender to a federal prison in Kentucky Monday after a federal judge denied his court request to stay out of prison while he appeals his conviction. on corruption charge.

Play the Albany Pay to Play Corruption Game

Winner Become A lobbyists

How GOP Senators Get Around Federal Mail Fraud Charges

Another GOP lawyer, testifying at the 2009 trial of Skelos predecessor Joe Bruno, said he'd urged members to hand deliver their financial disclosure filings to the ethics office to sidestep possible mail-fraud violations. Postal pigeons might be next. Bruno's conviction — on Skelos-like charges of selling his office for consulting fees — was overturned on a reinterpretation of a federal statute.

Wills Who Was Indicted By the AG Over A Year Ago is Still Doing Pay to Play Deal With His Lobbyists Campaign Manager

TRASHY POL: Indicted Queens Councilman slams proposal that hurts campaign donor (NYDN) An indicted Queens pol with the worst attendance record on the City Council showed up to hearings of a committee he doesn’t sit on to blast proposals that threaten to hurt a campaign donor. Councilman Ruben Wills — a Democrat who has received $3,000 from donors tied to Royal Waste and Regal Recycling — slammed a commercial trash handling proposal that would carve the city into zones, and assign each area to one chosen waste company, at a sanitation committee hearing April 29. Wills has received $3,000 from owners, managers and family members of Royal and Regal, which runs a complex of waste transfer and recycling facilities in southeast Queens outside his district. He also got $750 from the companies directly — which had to be returned because corporate contributions are banned under city rules. Last year, he had the worst attendance rate of anyone on the 51 member Council — blowing off 27% of the meetings he was supposed to attend.

Wills is facing a slew of corruption charges — including allegations he stole public campaign funds and used them on Louis Vuitton, Nordstrom and other personal purchases; and that he took a state member item for a sham charity but pocketed most of it. A separate indictment this year charged him with filing false statements with the Conflicts of Interest Board. A political consulting firm formerly employed by Wills, Connective Strategies, has been paid $6,000 by Regal to lobby the Council against that bill. “There is no conflict,” said Connective President Tyquana Henderson, who said she has not lobbied Wills on the matter.Lobbyists Henderson Was Wills Campaign ManagerMr. Wills was arrested as part of a separate case in May and charged in a 12-count indictment with using tens of thousands of dollars in campaign and taxpayer money to enrich himself, buying items such as a $750 Louis Vuitton handbag, authorities said.

Lobbyists Henderson Was Wills Campaign Manager

The arrest of Queens Councilman Ruben Wills is a reality check for those who tout public financing of campaigns as the key to cleaning up Albany. Welcome to the notoriously sleazy Legislature in Albany, where gaming the campaign finance laws is an art form. A see-no-evil Board of Elections, which is party-controlled and paralyzed in the face of runaway lawbreaking. Good money after bad (NYDN) The arrest of Ruben Wills should give public campaign finance enthusiasts pause. During his first, failed run for the City Council in 2009, Wills collected $139,818 in public money from the CFB — 79% of his total budget. According to the indictment from Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, Wills then secretly funneled $11,500 of his campaign funds to a nonprofit group he controlled, NY4Life, and glommed the money for strictly personal expenses — such as buying a $750 Louis Vuitton handbag.

Wills Indicted for A Not-For-Profit Scam Was An Aide for Ex-Senator Huntley Convicted of Another Not-For-Profit Scam

Wills personally submitted a voucher with the state Office of Children and Family Services on behalf of the group in 2010. But Wills declined to answer questions and invoked his Fifth Amendment rights when he was asked about the missing funds by investigators last year. Wills, a former aide to ex-state Sen. Shirley Huntley, who was convicted in another not-for-profit scam. The councilman is also being probe for steering funds to another non profit group, the Young Leaders Institute. Wills and a relative on his payroll, Jelani Mills, were arrested and being processed at the 112th Pct. in Forest Hills.*New York City Councilman Ruben Wills Charged in Fraud ... (May 7, 2014) * City Councilman Pleads Guilty to 1996 Misdemeanor * Indicted NYC Councilman Ruben Wills has worst attendance record among current members, records show:(NYDN) * Wills accuses AG of bias over use of image in campaign ad(NYP) State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is being accused of unfairly smearing an indicted Queens lawmaker by including him in a TV campaign ad, The Post has learned. City Councilman Ruben Wills is now trying to turn the tables, demanding that Schneiderman be removed as the prosecutor in his case for violating a court rule barring prejudicial pretrial publicity against a defendant. Schneiderman’s 30-second TV commercial shows news footage of Wills — handcuffed from behind — being “perp walked” to a vehicle by two police officers. *Schneiderman, at Columbia,laments the state of politics (Capital) “I’m proud of the fact that in the last three and half years—probably every month or so—we have done something that no one has ever done before,” Schneiderman told the gathering. “We change the way people are doing business and the way that governments are operating.”

Wills Wire Failed Why is the Trial Taking So Long?

Wills hit with corruption charges as wire doesn’t catch(NYP) Indicted City Councilman Ruben Wills was trying to get the goods on fellow lawmakers — and get the heat off himself during a state probe of his shady nonprofit — by wearing a wire. Wills, who was arrested last week by Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, was doing the secret recording at the behest of Schneiderman’s ­office, two sources said.But Wills apparently failed to deliver. “He was radioactive, and nobody would speak to him,” a lawmaker said. “Nobody would have anything to do with him.”

Assemblyman William Scarborough’s cellphone,legislative swipe cards, insurance claims, toll records and motor vehicle activity to pick apart hundreds of travel vouchers he submitted to the state over a five-year period ending in 2012. The Queens Democrat was arrested last October on an 11-count federal indictment that charged he submitted fraudulent travel vouchers.*Indicted Assemblyman Posts Ads for CriminalInvestigation, Ethics Training Jobs (NYO)

The State Senate Leadership Jail

THE DEAN OF THE SENATEA commentary on the chronicles of corruption in the state Senate. (Wayne Barrett, City and State) New York’s state Senate, where four of the last five majority leaders have been indicted and the fifth, Dean Skelos, is reportedly under investigation. The first, Joe Bruno, got his conviction overturned because the U.S. Supreme Court significantly narrowed the “honest services” he owed his constituents, excluding the $3.2 million in conflict-of-interest consulting fees he collected from clients with public business before him. Pedro Espada was forced to resign as leader the same day he was indicted for embezzling hundreds of thousands from a state-funded nonprofit, using $49,000, for example, to make a down payment on a Bentley. Malcolm Smith, who thought cash bribes were the quickest way to buy himself a ballot line for mayor, is now facing 45 years in prison. And John Sampson, who succeeded Smith, will soon go to trial for stealing $400,000 from foreclosure accounts and trying to get a list of the witnesses against him so he could, as he put it, “take them out.” He wasn’t looking for dates. As one measure of how interlocked this two-house degeneration is, Frank Seddio, the former assemblyman who’s now the boss of the Brooklyn Democratic party and played a pivotal role in the elevation of new speaker Carl Heastie, took credit for Sampson’s 2014 re-election, running the indicted senator’s campaign out of his own Canarsie club. The swamp is so deeply bi-partisan that Democrat Smith was bribing Republican county leaders to get the Republican line. Criminal charges have become so routine in Albany that the Senate Republicans just re-elected Tom Libous as deputy majority leader without so much as a word of public criticism. U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara has already indicted Libous and just convicted his son.

Albany Corruption, INC Still Partying Like Its 1999 Pay to Play Fund Raising Booked

Albany legislators plan swanky fund-raisers despite crackdowns (NYP)Even the fear of a federal crackdown isn’t stopping Albany politicians from getting right back to their “pay-to-play” ways, a Post analysis has found. Despite US Attorney Preet Bharara’s investigation, which has already toppled Sheldon Silver as assembly speaker, more than three dozen lawmakers and party leaders are planning big-bucks Albany fund-raisers from mid-February through mid-March — while they negotiate a state budget. The legislators will be hitting up lobbyists, business leaders, real-estate tycoons, public-employee unions and others for thousands of dollars in contributions at posh venues just blocks from the state Capitol. The schmooze-for-cash-fest events fly in the face of Bharara’s investigation, critics say. Cuomo Parties On AlsoCuomo unfazed by lack of buzz (TU) At home, Cuomo has been buffeted by the recent corruption arrest of now ex-Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, and continued criticism from his controversial decision to scrap his Moreland Commission...

Hey Bruno Give $600,000 Back

State auditors said they are disallowing more than $600,000 in legal bills submitted by Joe Bruno, the former Senate majority leader who was acquitted last year of public corruption charges, saying that a public opinion poll and time spent on the phone with journalists are not eligible for taxpayer reimbursement. * State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli determined that $606,112 of the $2.4 million in legal bills racked up by former state Senate Republican Leader Joe Bruno should be disallowed, the Times Union writes

The Fact That Personal Expenses Were Made Illegal From Campaign Accounts, Does Not Stop Albany Pols From Continuing the Practice

State senators use campaigns for personal ‘political’ expenses(NYP) New rules didn’t stop some state legislators from tapping their campaign accounts to cover items from $458-a-month car payments to three shipments of flowers totaling $1,735. Records show that state Sen. Carl Marcellino (R-LI) over the last six months shelled out a total of $2,753 to keep wheeling around in his Honda. His Brooklyn GOP colleague Marty Golden placed three orders at The Enchanted Florist for $725, $455 and $555 over the same January-July period. State Sen. Dean Skelos (R-LI), who stepped down as Republican leader in May following a federal corruption indictment, is still being welcomed at the private Fort Orange Club, which received $8,850 of his campaign funds. Earlier this year, Gov. Cuomo touted reforms passed with the state budget, making it clear that officials may not use campaign money on personal items.

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True News Wags NYP's Goodwin on Organize Crime Albany Government

Today's NYP

Sheldon Silver'sdownfall exposes corruption in Albany(Goodwin, NYP) Since prosecutors filed the charges against Silver, published reports are detailing how he manipulated the courts, the Legislature, not-for-profits and even an innocuous-sounding resolution to enrich himself. The portrait that emerges is that of a boss of a Mafia-like gang. Think of it as La Cosa Nostra’s government family.

True News Last Weekend

New York's Organize Crime Politics

Crooks in Assembly are using 1957 Apalachin Organized Crime Commission as model to Take Heat Off Them

A Coalition of CountyLeader Puppets and Silver Changes Nothing

New York’s representative democracy has been hijacked in an organized crime sort of way by our elected officials. Just like the mob at the Appalachian meeting rigged drugs, gambling and prostitution, our elected officials have rigged government, the judicial system and the state prosecutors to enrich themselves in money and power. That 1957 meeting included over 100 mobsters including "Joe the Barber," divided the illegal operations of loan sharking, narcotics trafficking and gambling controlled by the late Albert Anastasia. The soldiers of New York’s Political Elected Mob are two Tammany Hall machines that have control over a broken down election system, unbeatable and unaccountable to the voters in New York’s broken down election system. The lobbyist with their real estate and union funding make up the new machine, the party leaders who no longer control the vote, but its leaders have control of the special election, the court and the old guard of elected officials in Albany makes up the second machine.Under plan to cede duties to senior members, Silver would keep his title, his formal powers and his leadership stipend, spokesman says.

The New Puppet Bosses of Albany Is As Bad As the Old Boss

Like the Appalachian mobsters the Party leaders, consultants/lobbyist has divided up New York to control the government and rake in millions of dollars for themselves. The press coverage of politics is amazingly similar to the SEC reviews of Madoff’s records over the years. They saw but did nothing. The press is reporting the indictment of the U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, but they are not helping him by investigating the corrupt like he asked them to do over a year ago.

How Albany Became So Corrupt

And, having crowned him king, they would own the place. Heastie’s rapid mobilization of Democratic lawmakers, mostly from New York City, left some lawmakers openly grumbling that the Bronx lawmaker and his supporters had not adhered to a process that Assembly Democrats publicly insisted, after outgoing Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s fall from power this week, would be more deliberative.* Support for Heastie's speaker bid coming together fast |Capital New York (Capital) * 5 points on how New York state got so damn corrupt:(TMP) 1.People in power have little interest in changing that 2.Just three people make the biggest decisions 3. Ethics laws are kinda blurry 4. The state lacks anti-corruption forces 5. Albany has a culture of insiders where it feels like nobody's watching* In 2014, Heastie received $20,706 in per-diem expenses, more than any other Assembly member. In recent years his campaign accrued more than $25,000 in unitemized credit card expenditures, among the highest amounts in the Assembly. When asked by a reporter, he replied “I’m not concerned whatsoever.”* In 2010, he stayed neutral in the State Senate race between Gustavo Rivera and Pedro Espada, one of the most corrupt members of the legislature in recent years (and that says a lot)* As chair of the Bronx Democratic Party, Heastie makes appointments to the City’s completely dysfunctional Board of Elections. The Board of Election’s problemsare legion, as most New York City voters are aware. What has Heastie done to improve the Board of Elections, especially since his choice for executive director in 2010 was fired after two months on the job for ballot tampering? What will he do to improve the State Board of Elections as Speaker? * JCOPE filings reveal (sort of) income data for Speakercandidates * Editorial: Fix thecauses of corruption in NY state(CrainsNY)* Friends Of Democracy Pushes Speaker Candidates On Public Financing(YNN)

CM Sander's Owes CFB

Queens state Sen. James Sanders owes nearly $20,000 to the city Campaign Finance Board for violations during his 2009 City Council run. * State Sen. James Sanders owes nearly $20,000 to the New York City Campaign Finance Board for failing to report transactions and accepting improper corporate contributions during his 2009 City Council run,the Daily News writes:

Albany's Corruption Hall Of Shame Forced to Expand With New Wing

Will Sheldon Silver's arrest finally spur ethics reforms in Albany? (syracuse.com) * Assemblywoman uses nonprofit to turn taxpayer-bought land into private parking lot(NYP) Assemblywoman Vivian Cook has resurrected her defunct nonprofit in order to turn an empty plot— purchased by the shady group with taxpayer money — into a private parking lot.The Queens Democrat said the Rockaway Boulevard Local Development Corp. is renting the parcel to a New Jersey contractor who has stashed trucks and construction equipment behind a locked chain-link gate. Cook said she can’t remember how much rent the group is charging the contractor, what his name is, or when exactly he signed the lease. Cook is best known for sending taxpayer money to another nonprofit — an education concern run by her pal, former state Sen. Shirley Huntley. Huntley pleaded guilty in 2013 to taking $87,000 from the group, admitting that she and a fellow lawmaker — later identified as Cook — would use the taxpayer cash to go on shopping trips.

Ex-City Councilman Erik Dilan was slapped with a $9000 fine for taking an affordable apartment for which he didn’t qualify from a crooked developer with business before the New York City Council. Dilan’s sweet deal was first revealed by the Daily News in 2011, and the Conflicts of Interest Board launched a probe. Dilan (D-Brooklyn) — now a state Assemblyman — broke city conflicts of interest law by failing to disclose his financial relationship with his landlord, developer Sergio Benitez, when he voted to approve three of Benitez’s projects before the City Council, the board found.* Pol living in low-income apartment hit with $9,000 fine(NYP)

Wills Indicted Again Failing to Disclose His Financial Dealing on Disclosure Reports

Why one pol's wrist-slap is another's felony (CrainsNY) Attorney General Eric Schneiderman arrested Queens Councilman Ruben Wills on felony charges Tuesday—but a Schneiderman spokesman is refusing to say exactly what Mr. Wills did to warrant counts carrying up to four years in prison. Other officials, including City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, Public Advocate Letitia James and former City Hall aide Rachel Noerdlinger, have failed to disclose financial information to the Conflicts of Interest Board and were allowed to amend their filings without even a fine, let alone criminal charges. But Mr. Schneiderman's office says Mr. Wills' case is different because the omission is tied to an as-yet-unspecified crime. State law allowed Mr. Schneiderman to charge Mr. Wills with a Class E felony because the councilman submitted a false financial disclosure to the Conflicts of Interest Board "in the course of committing a crime," a Schneiderman spokesman said. But he would not say what Mr. Wills omitted from his disclosure form, nor what the related crime was. Capital New York obtained a copy of Mr. Wills' recent financial disclosure reports and wrote that Mr. Wills had "corrected information pertaining to outside income gains for documents filed in the years 2010 through 2014" from "two separate building and contracting businesses." It's not clear whether that is related to other charges filed in 2014 that Mr. Wills is facing from Mr. Schneiderman, which center on the alleged misuse of taxpayer money by a nonprofit and of public campaign funds.

District Leader Baldeo Comes Out of the Hospital and Goes to Jail

Albert Baldeo won’t be running for City Council again anytime soon. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison Monday for funneling illegal campaign contributions into his unsuccessful bid for a Queens council seat. In the fall of 2010, Baldeo, who was a district leader at the time, received illegal contributions through intermediaries, also known as straw donors. Manhattan federal prosecutors charged the crooked pol with seven counts of obstructing justice last August. Baldeo, 54, was also found guilty of tampering with witnesses by instructing them to lie to the feds. Baldeo’s lawyer, Christina Corcoran, pleaded with the judge not to imprison the “already broken man.”But federal Judge Paul Crotty wasn’t buying it. “What Mr. Baldeo did over an extended period of time was pollute the administration of justice. It’s even worse because Mr. Baldeo is a lawyer. His sentence demands incarceration,” Crotty said. Baldeo also has to pay $15,700, do 300 hours of community service and spend three months on house arrest following his prison time. He must report to prison by March 23.

Vinny the Chin Baldeo?

Albert Baldeo has checked himself in a hospital before he was to be sentence in his federal conviction for threading witness in his trial that had to do with filing false matching fund documents with the city’s Campaign Finance Board. The original sentencing was scheduled for January 21. Approximately three hours prior to the proceeding, a fax was sent to the defense counsel from Nima Tagipour, MD, of FlushingHospital medical center, stating “Albert Baldeo was admitted to the emergency room for chest pain on 1/21/15. The patient will remain in the hospital till cardiac evaluation is completed.

That same afternoon, a conference was held, in lieu of sentencing, at which defense counsel represented that, test performed on the defendant has not indicated there to be any problems, and that, accordingly, he was expected to be discharged the following day. The following day, the defense counsel reported to the court that the defendant remained in the hospital; a different kind of test had been ordered for the next day, which was believed to be standard procedure for someone of the defendant’s age who has self-reported chest pains. If the new tests did not report any problems Baldeo was to be released the next day. However, defense council also reported that the defendant has announced that he has a new medicinal issue. – Weakness on his left side.

The court then ordered sentencing to proceed January 26th approximately three hours later, without informing the court or his council, the defendant Baldeo requested his then-current hospital to transport him, by ambulance to Long Island Jewish Medical Center. The defendant’s request was affected at approximately midnight. The next day Dr. Lee stated to the defense councils that the defendant “had an angiogram and cardio catheterization procedure to clear two blockages, and that two stents were inserted. He was to be released the next day. . As of three days ago Baldeo was still in the hospital, being held for unknown reasons. Dr. The same day Dr. Jauhar, the cardiologist who preformed the procedure recommended that the court delay the sentencing for a week. The court refused. The prosecutors think Baldeo is faking or exaggerating his medical problems and has demand tCING DELAYED BY ‘CONTINUED SELF-HOSPITALIZATION’(Forum) hat the court order Baldeo lawyers to come up with proof of Baldeo’s condition * BALDEO SENTEN

Judge OKs garnishment of crooked ex-pol’s pension(NYP)A federal judge has green-lighted the government to seize $22,000 in state pension funds from disgraced ex-Assemblyman Eric Stevenson — money he’s yet to pay taxpayers back following his bribery...

Wills Absent and Near Political Death

Indicted NYC Councilman Ruben Wills has worst attendance record among current members, records show:(NYDN) The indicted pol missed 27% of the meetings he was supposed to attend in the year that ended June 30, the worst attendance record on the Council, according to records obtained Friday by the Daily News under the Freedom of Information Law. Wills was absent from 37 of the 137 committee hearings and Council meetings he was supposed to be at, the records show. The Jamaica Democrat was indicted on a dozen corruption charges in May. Prosecutors say he stole public campaign funds and used the cash for a Louis Vitton handbag and shopping trips to Nordstrom and Century 21, among other personal purchases. He’s also accused of taking a $33,000 member item from since-convicted Sen. Shirley Huntley for his sham charity but pocketing most of it.Also on the worst attendance list for the fiscal year that ended June 30: Brad Lander of Brooklyn, who missed 22.7%, Annabel Palma of the Bronx, with 17.8%, and Darlene Mealy and Vincent Gentile of Brooklyn, both with 16.8%.* Council members explain their absentee rates(Capital)

CM King Fined For the Second Time By CFB

Bronxlawmaker fined for campaign finance violations (NYDN) Councilman Andy King must repay nearly $18,000 in public funds for campaign finance violations stemming from a 2012 special election, the city’s Campaign Finance Board said Thursday. City Councilman Andy King’s campaign was hit with six penalties last month and was fined more than $12,000 for failing to accurately report receipts, accepting money over the contribution limit and being unable to document $22,000 in expenditures.King received $58,000 in public funds for the November 2012 special election held to replace disgraced convicted ex-Councilman Larry Seabrook. King’s books have cost him in the past. He owed the city more than $31,000 for penalties and repayments stemming from a 2009 primary run.

Ratting Keeps Castro Out of Jail What Do You Do After You Wire Tap Pols and Do Time In Jail Castro Has An Idea

Tarnished Bronx politician, Albany informer Nelson Castro escapes prisonfor perjury, vows new career selling lightbulbs (NYDN) The former West Bronx state Assemblyman will have all charges dropped if he stays out of trouble for three years, a Bronx judge decreed Monday. Castro's cushy sentence came after he served as an undercover agent in the state legislature for five years, helping to bring down fellow Assemblyman Eric Stevenson for bribery.* Nelson Castro catches a break in court(NYP) Former state Assemblyman Nelson Castro on Monday caught his second legal break in two months when a Bronx Supreme Court judge granted him a conditional discharge for perjury charges he had faced, saying the lenient sentence was for helping weed out corruption in Albany. Judge Steven Barrett said Castro has “worked to acknowledge his wrongs” and showed “strong character” helping the feds score corruption convictions against former Assemblyman Eric Stevenson (D-Bronx) and five others while secretly wearing a wire as a cooperating Albany mole.

Daily News Copies True News In Feds Putting Albany Pols in Jail

Unlike True News the DN Never Connects the Failure of JCOPE, DAs and AG To Stop the Albany Crime Wave

Why Are NYC's DAs Not Indicting Pols?

Insiders describe it as an inherently “political animal” that can often have trouble indicting members of the party—which in New York City is the old Democratic Party leaders and theNew Privatized Lobbyists Machine—that controls who serves in the local legal system. To some extent, every Democratic district attorney has close relationships with Democratic Party leadership. With the singular exception of then-Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s takedown of Hevesi in a pension-fund scam, virtually all the New York anti-corruption action since 2006 has been undertaken by federal prosecutors and the FBI. Local DAs remain as quiet as the proverbial church mouse. And that’s especially true of Albany County DA David Soares, who by virtue of geography and the law is particularly well-positioned to pursue corruption. Albany Corruption

Albany politicians are corrupt, Manhattan U.S. Attorney says (NYDN) Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara has said there is a “certain percentage” of politicians in Albany who are corrupt, which is underscored by the more than two dozen officials elected in the state who have been arrested or convicted since 2008. Bharara has taken the lead among all prosecutors by turning up the heat on Albany after Gov. Cuomo shut down the Moreland Commission, which was investigating a wide range of corruption cases. Add to that rotten core state Sen. Thomas Libous (R-Binghamton), who was found guilty of lying to FBI agents, and state Sen. John Sampson (D-Brooklyn), who was convicted of obstructing a federal investigation. Libous was the No. 2 Republican in the state Senate. His longtime boss, state Sen. Dean Skelos, was the majority leader for six years before his indictment in May on corruption charges. Sampson once headed the Democratic Conference when the party was in the majority in the Senate. Bharara’s office recently won the conviction of former state Sen. Malcolm Smith (D-Queens), a one-time Senate president who was sentenced to seven years in prison last month, and the indictment of longtime Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan), both very high on the food chain of bottom feeders in the Albany trough. Silver has since resigned his leadership post, but continues to represent the Lower East Side. *Gregory Meeks wants to delay his financial-disclosure report again (NYP) *State senator removed for #corruption, butdon't expect big #ethicschanges: on @StateOfPolitics

Former Assemblywoman Rosa Off to Jail

Facebook: The place to share fun photos, goofy videos, and... in the case of one former state assemblywoman, your thoughts on taking off for a year-long stay at Club Fed. Gabriela Rosa was sentenced last month to a year and a day in the slammer, scheduled to start Friday, for immigration and bankruptcy fraud. "I will be leaving in the next hours, but my hope is to be able to see you soon!!!!! Please keep me and my family in your prayers!!!" she wrote in a Thursday post on the social media site. A spokesman for U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, who prosecuted the case, confirmed Rosa is scheduled to surrender at 2 p.m.

Monserrate Beats Carnival Corruption That Help Take Boyland Down

Carnival company pleads guilty to bribing state senator(NYDN) The Bronx-based traveling carnival company, Tommy's Midway, was accused of paying off ex-State Sen. Hiram Monserrate in exchange for permits in his Queens district. A Bronx-based carnival company has quietly pleaded guilty to bribing ex-State Sen. Hiram Monserrate in exchange for help in securing permits for a festival in his Queens district, the Daily News has learned. Monserrate was never charged in the carnival scheme because of a confluence of events — he was indicted in an unrelated corruption case, the FBI’s carnival investigation expanded to catch another elected official, and the cooperating witness who allegedly delivered the $7,000 payoff to Monserrate died, sources said. The five-year statute of limitations expired last month, so Monserrate’s in the clear. In October 2010, he was indicted by federal prosecutors in Manhattan for misuse of funds while he was a City Councilman. He was convicted and sentenced to two years in prison. He is scheduled to be released in February. Monserrate’s lawyer did not return a call.

True News Said in the Past Show the Pols A Video of Convicted Pols Like Kruger Crying At Their Sentencing

Curtis Sliwa Plan to Scare Pols By Showing Them Past Corruption Will Just Give Them More Ideas On How to Commit More Crime

Scare the pols straight: A video for New York officeholders(NYP Ed) Police Commissioner Bill Bratton recently had 800 top NYPD brass view videos of multiple acts of police brutality, followed by a stern warning that this won’t be tolerated. With New York passing even the SopranoState (New Jersey) in political corruption, it seems to me our elected officials would benefit greatly from a similar show. Along with fake Arab sheiks and “real” mobsters, the film shows corrupt pols including US congressmen on the take. Follow that with the real grainy video of former Staten Island Rep. John Murphy acting like a mob boss, dispatching his consigliere to pick up the Abscam bribe money — an envelope stuffed with $50,000. Next stop for him was federal jail. Then switch to video from 2006: Brooklyn Assemblywoman Diane Gordon sitting with a building contractor who she’s willing to help as long as he gives her a house for free.

Indicted Wills Protests, But Where is the Media's Objection For AG's Campaign Disguising A Politial Commerical As A News Report?

Wills accuses AG of bias over use of image in campaign ad(NYP) State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is being accused of unfairly smearing an indicted Queens lawmaker by including him in a TV campaign ad, The Post has learned. City Councilman Ruben Wills is now trying to turn the tables, demanding that Schneiderman be removed as the prosecutor in his case for violating a court rule barring prejudicial pretrial publicity against a defendant. Schneiderman’s 30-second TV commercial shows news footage of Wills — handcuffed from behind — being “perp walked” to a vehicle by two police officers. *Schneiderman, at Columbia,laments the state of politics (Capital) “I’m proud of the fact that in the last three and half years—probably every month or so—we have done something that no one has ever done before,” Schneiderman told the gathering. “We change the way people are doing business and the way that governments are operating.”

A Forgotten Cover-Up Corruption Scandal Connected to

Has the statute of limitations passed?

The collapse of the Corona-ElmhurstCenter for Economic Development, a nonprofit partly organized by State Senator Jose Peralta, remains a mystery. A Queens-based nonprofit group that has never publicly accounted for its use of $500,000 in funding has conspicuously escaped a corruption investigation.The nonprofit group, the Corona-ElmhurstCenter for Economic Development, is politically connected with some of the city's highest elected officials and campaign consultants.Government reform activists question whether those political ties precluded any prosecutorial investigation into the nonprofit's finances. When State Senator Jose Peralta (D-Queens) was only an Assemblymember, he helped to form the Center for Economic Development.In 2009, The New York Daily News reported that the Center for Economic Development had failed to file its tax returns, amongst other controversies.In addition to financial irregularities, the Center for Economic Development's executive director had separated from the nonprofit.According to the Daily News report, State Senator Peralta and his top political consultants continued to seek additional funding for the Center for Economic Development in spite of the nonprofit group's difficulties.Reportedly, another nonprofit, the Audubon Partnership for Economic Development, was identified as assisting the Center for Economic Development during its financial and leadership crisis. * Assemblyman Jose Peralta scored $500,000 in taxpayer fundsfor inactive nonprofit (NYDN)

A Machine DA Investigates A Machine 2% Win

Bronx DA looking into claims of voter fraud(NYP) The Bronx district attorney is investigating claims of voter fraud in a hotly contested Democratic primary for the Assembly that was decided by two votes. Following a hand recount, Assemblyman Victor Pichardo defeated challenger Hector Ramirez, a district leader, 1,888 votes to 1,886 votes, in the 86th District, covering University Heights, Fordham and the West Bronx. Ironically, Pichardo, by winning a special election, succeeded Assemblyman Nelson Castro, who was nailed for election fraud after nine voters were discovered registered at his one-bedroom apartment. He later cut a deal with the feds and wore a wire to ensnare other officials engaged in corruption.DA Robert Johnson has subpoenaed Board of Elections records relating to voters who submitted absentee ballots. Investigators also visited the homes of some voters, many of whom are Dominican immigrants.* Meantime Arroyo Fraud Drags On

Show Former Sen Kruger Assembly Rosa Crying At Their Court Sentencing to Elected

Former Assembly Member Gabriela Rosa Faces Sentencing, SeeksProbation with Support of Electeds(Gotham Gazette) On the other hand, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, State Senator Rubén Díaz Sr., and Assembly Members Herman Farrell Jr. and Dan Quart sent character letters to Judge Cote. Members of Rosa's family, uptown nonprofit leaders, and several of her former constituents also sent letters, which were filed with the court. While they said they didn't condone what she did, the elected officials praised Rosa's commitment to her district and her work ethic. Rosa was offered the chance to wear a wire and to catch other elected officials in exchange for leniency, but declined, the Daily News reported in August.Former Assemblywoman Gabriela Rosa, who pleaded guilty to marriage and bankruptcy fraud in June, will face sentencing Friday morning at the Manhattan federal courthouse

The BOE Scanner's Lobbyists Mangone and Bronx Boss Savino are Law Partners

In 2007 DOI Knew About Savino Involvement In FBI Probe of the BOE Voting Machines. A few years back, the Westchester lawyer Anthony J. Mangone, law partner of Jay Savino, the Bronx Republican leader, earned a cool $100,000 lobbying the board on behalf of a voting machine company, Election Systems and Software. In 2010, the board gave the company a $50 million contract. The next day, federal prosecutors indicted Mr. Mangone in an unrelated bribery case. Mr. Mangone has pleaded guilty and is talking with investigators. Mr. Savino received a subpoena two years ago.Bronx GOP Chairman Jay Savino, and his deputy and NYC Board of Elections Commissioner (the guy who Savino got the job for at the BOE) J.C. Polanco, were hit with Federal subpoenas, as part of U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara’s investigation into political corruption, in Westchester and in New York City. Here is a compilation of stories that ran in the New York Post, The Daily News and The Gothamist in 2010. In 2010, Savino and others were subpoenaed in connection with a federal probe into bidding on voting machines.Anthony Mangone, 37, of Purchase faces up to 45 years in jail when he is sentenced for conspiracy, bribery, extortion and tax evasion. But his sentence is expected to be a fraction of that in exchange for his cooperation in two ongoing probes in which he is involved New York City's Board of Elections. According to the Post-”the subpoenas were sent ‘all over the place,’ said one source.” “Another source said Bharara began focusing on the voting-machine contract after indicting Anthony Mangone, a politically connected lawyer, for allegedly bribing a former Yonkers city councilwoman to switch her vote on two development projects. Mangone, who has ties to the Queens Republican Party, was one of several lobbyists hired by ES&amp;S.” Guilty Westchester attorney Anthony Mangone will help feds in two seperate probes(NYDN) * Bronx GOP Chairman Jay Savino will resign his party post

How Many More Have Abused Per Diems?

Claiming she spent a marathon 12 consecutive days in Albany on “legislative business,” Queens Assemblywoman Vivian Cook pocketed $171 for each reported overnight stay — a total $2,197 in taxpayer money from March 21 to April 1, 2010. The Legislature was in session just three of those days — and Cook was absent for all three, records show. “Me? You’re kidding! No! I didn’t do that,” she told The Post. “I don’t lie, I don’t cheat, and I don’t steal,” said Cook, whose nonprofit Rockaway Boulevard Local Development Corp. prompted an investigation for allegedly misusing taxpayer funds. In 2010 and 2011, Cook collected a total $17,035 in daily and overnight stipends, plus other travel expenses — on top of her $79,500-a-year state salary. During the 2010 legislative session, she missed 51 meetings of the Assembly, 63 percent of the sessions.

State Senate Candidate Pays Himself for Campaign Compliance

TheNew York Observerhas aninteresting articleaboutMunir Avery, a candidate for State Senate from Queens who ran in the recent Democratic primary against incumbent Democrat Malcolm Smith and eventual winner Leroy Comrie. (Mr. Averyfinisheda distant third in the race, gaining 11.8% of the vote.) According to its campaign filings, his campaign committee (‘Munir Avery for the People’) paid his own law firm (theLaw Office of Munir Avery) over $40,000 dollars in fees for “legal compliance.”The consensus is that this isn’t illegal, but that it raises some questions that the new Enforcement Counsel at the state Board of Elections should look into – such as whether any actual work was done

Carmen Arroyo is Not Only Corrupt She is Hurting Parents and Children

New York’spoor neighborhoods lined with failing schools(NYP) Councilwoman Maria del Carmen Arroyo (D-Bronx) had the highest number of failing schools — 20 — in her South Bronx district. Councilwoman Vanessa Gibson (D-Bronx) was a close second, with 17 failing schools in her southwest Bronx district, while Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito represented an area with 15 failing schools in East Harlem and the South Bronx. “The data show show few quality school options constituents in districts all across the city have,” said Jeremiah Kittredge, CEO of the advocacy group. “That’s why we hope City Council members stand with 10,000 parents on Thursday to demand an end to our crisis of failing schools. For 50 years, we’ve tried incremental change and it hasn’t worked,” he added. Supporters of charter schools and school reform are planning a huge rally in Foley Square Thursday to demand “bold transformational change” to upgrade the neediest schools.

More Arroyo Corruption

Councilwomen Backed City Project Bids from Developers WhoHired Relatives(DNAINFO)In the past two years, two city councilwomen went to bat for nonprofits employing their family members, writing letters of support for the groups to city officials deciding on their proposals to develop public land, records show. City Councilwoman Maria del Carmen Arroyo and ex-city Councilwoman Diana Reyna each penned letters to officials at the city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development backing affordable-housing proposals, records obtained by DNAinfo New York show. Arroyo's June 14, 2013, missive supported a Bronx nonprofit that had hired her ex-convict nephew six months earlier, while Reyna's Aug. 27, 2012, note praised a proposal by a Brooklyn nonprofit where her mother-in-law worked as a director.

Rosa to Judge Denise Cote: "I just ask you for mercy, don’t send me away from my son.” Cote was not persuaded:

You don’t often hear an immigration scam described as “a real Horatio Alger story.” But in a bid to avoid jail, a former Washington Heights assemblywoman who was forced to resign after pleading guilty to a sham marriage that allowed her to become a US citizen, is doing just that. Comparing her to the late-19th century author Alger, who became famous for his tales of youngsters who rise out of poverty to great success, lawyers for Gabriela Rosa filed a plea for probation. * Prison for Ex-Manhattan Assemblywoman in Sham Marriage Case (NYT)*Former Assemblywoman Gets One Year, One Day in Prison ForFraud(NY1) Former Assemblywoman Gabriela Rosa wept in a federal courthouse after a judge sentenced her to a year and a day in prison—and made no comment as her supporters tried to shield her from a mob of press waiting outside

To Save Time and Travel Expenses Why Not Convert the Albany State House Into A Jail

It took a whole 91 days for another member of New YorkState’s Legislature to be charged with a crime

Avella Does A 180 On Real Estate PAC $$$

A year ago, state Sen. Tony Avella denounced the Real Estate Board of New York's $8 million in outside spending in New York City Council races, but when he needed last-minute help in his own September primary, he accepted tens of thousands of dollars in donations from a REBNY donor, Crain’s reports:

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A Tale of Two Pre Ks: Middle Class Communities Better Off Than Poor in the Bronx

Mayor de Blasio’s ambitious pre-K expansion provided a bigger boost to parents in well-off Staten Island and Queens than in the needy Bronx, the New York Post reports:

To Save Time and Travel Expenses Why Not Convert the Albany State House Into A Jail

It took a whole 91 days for another member of New YorkState’s Legislature to be charged with a crime

To Save Time and Travel Expenses Why Not Convert the Albany State House Into A Jail

Show Former Sen Kruger Assembly Rosa Crying At Their Court Sentencing to Elected

Former Assembly Member Gabriela Rosa Faces Sentencing, SeeksProbation with Support of Electeds(Gotham Gazette) On the other hand, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, State Senator Rubén Díaz Sr., and Assembly Members Herman Farrell Jr. and Dan Quart sent character letters to Judge Cote. Members of Rosa's family, uptown nonprofit leaders, and several of her former constituents also sent letters, which were filed with the court. While they said they didn't condone what she did, the elected officials praised Rosa's commitment to her district and her work ethic. Rosa was offered the chance to wear a wire and to catch other elected officials in exchange for leniency, but declined, the Daily News reported in August.Former Assemblywoman Gabriela Rosa, who pleaded guilty to marriage and bankruptcy fraud in June, will face sentencing Friday morning at the Manhattan federal courthouse

Common Core Almost Kitchen Table Petitions

Witness on Stop Common Core petitions says she didn't seepeople sign them(NYDN) A Manhattan woman who was a witness on hundreds of nominating petitions for the Rob Astorino-created Stop Common Core ballot line says she didn’t actually watch people sign them. Jenise Jett told the Daily News that she and her two adult kids were among two dozen people in a room who were handed the already-filled-out petitions to add their signatures as witnesses.

Three months after Ruben Wills was arrested for what Attorney General Eric Schneiderman described as “a shameful breach of the trust his constituents placed in him,” have any of his 47 fellow Democrats in the New York City Council called on him to resign? Why is it that the safest harbor for indicted politicians in this state is inside the halls of government? Not that Democrats are alone in laying on thick this appalling whitewash. Take Rudy Giuliani, who POLITICO’s Maggie Haberman quotes as saying, “The Cuomo situation, I can’t figure it out … I’m getting nervous that prosecutors are jumping [at a political case].” Wha—?! Let’s ignore for a second that Giuliani had to preface his remarks by disclosing that his law firm is representing individuals who might be questioned by investigators in connection with Moreland.

Weakness of Elected Prosecutors In Political Corruption Cases

Wills charges Schneiderman tried race-baiting in 2010 primary(NYP) State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman tried to play the race card in his 2010 primary battle against Nassau DA Kathleen Rice, drafting a fellow Dem to do his dirty work, new court papers charge. Schneiderman asked state Sen. Shirley Huntley, who is black and was supporting him, to call Rice, the white prosecutor running against him in the Democratic primary for state attorney general, a racist, according to the filing. “Schneiderman asked for Huntley’s support as her district was significantly African-American and was thought to be the tipping point for the race,” according to court papers filed last week by embattled City Councilman Ruben Wills, Huntley’s former top aide. Schneiderman, who was then a state senator, wanted Huntley to say Rice used her position to “unfairly and disproportionately prosecute African-Americans,” court papers say. “He encouraged Huntley to gather crowds in predominately minority neighborhoods and then publicly and falsely accuse Kathleen Rice of racism,” according to the filing. Huntley, who represented southeast Queens, refused Schneiderman’s request, sparking bad blood between the two, court papers say. Wills — who was indicted by the Attorney General’s Office in May on charges of stealing more than $30,000 in taxpayer money from a charity he founded and using some of the cash for shopping sprees — may just be trying to save himself with the race-baiting allegations. The allegations came in a legal filing in which Wills is seeking to remove Schneiderman from his case and have a special prosecutor appointed. Huntley was recently released from federal prison. She pleaded guilty in 2013 to taking $87,000 from a nonprofit she started. Schneiderman began investigating charities linked to her shortly after he took office in 2011. Huntley declined to comment but said of Schneiderman in a 2013 videotaped interview posted to YouTube that “There were things that he asked me to do that were not kosher.”* Indicted pol seeks Schneiderman's removal from case

Wills Opponents Attacked in His 2010 Campaign for the Mission Profit Money

Shirley Huntley Explains How Everyone Was Totally Out to Get Her(NYO, 6/22/13) A month from serving a year-long prison sentence, Ms. Huntley claimed, for example, that she was singled out for an investigation because she didn’t tell her constituents that the current attorney general’s electoral opponent was “a racist and only locks up black people” during the campaign.“He was upset with me about certain things that he wanted me to do,” Ms. Huntley said of Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, a former colleague in the State Senate before he ran for higher office in 2010. Mr. Schneiderman faced a crowded field in the Democratic primary, including Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice, whom Ms. Huntley alleged she was asked to malign.“I was not a fan of Kathleen Rice because I don’t know her but I was not going to do anything that was going to damage her reputation,” Ms. Huntley explained. “I wasn’t going to do that. I was not going to go to black folks and tell them they need to jump up and down and say, ‘Kathleen Rice is a racist and only locks up black people.’”* A month from serving a year-long prison sentence, Ms. Huntley claimed, for example, that she was singled out for an investigation because she didn’t tell her constituents that the current attorney general’s electoral opponent was “a racist and only locks up black people” during the campaign. “He was upset with me about certain things thaat he wanted me to do,” Ms. Huntley said of Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, a former colleague in the State Senate before he ran for higher office in 2010. Mr. Schneiderman faced a crowded field in the Democratic primary, including Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice, whom Ms. Huntley alleged she was asked to malign. “I was not a fan of Kathleen Rice because I don’t know her but I was not going to do anything that was going to damage her reputation,” Ms. Huntley explained. “I wasn’t going to do that. I was not going to go to black folks and tell them they need to jump up and down and say, ‘Kathleen Rice is a racist and only locks up black people.’”* Queens Councilman Ruben Wills arrested by AG (May 7, 2014)

Feds Get the Computer of GOP #2 Senator's Wife. Libous

State and federal investigators last week seized papers, a laptop and cell phones belonging to Frances Libous, a vice chair of the Workers Compensation Board and the wife of Sen. Tom Libous, who is under indictment, two people familiar with the raid said.

IDC Falling Apart SHOCKING

State Senate Democrats' coalition deal on verge of falling apart: sources(NYDN) EXCLUSIVE: One of the breakaway Dems, Sen. David Valesky, said Tuesday that two Democratic senators in the rebellious Independent Democratic Conference have broken the agreement.Two Democratic senators’ continuing support for state Senate challenger Oliver Koppell, who’s running against Sen. Jeffrey Klein, has put the deal between the IDC and the mainstream Senate Democrats in jeopardy of falling apart

Councilman Wills Thinks Ahead

Indicted city councilman introduces prisoner voting-rights bill(NYP) A Queens lawmaker who faces jail time if he’s convicted on charges of stealing $30,000 in public funds is introducing a bill Thursday requiring the city to inform prison inmates of their voting rights. City Hall insiders are snickering that the Queens Democrat, arrested in May for allegedly swiping government funds from a nonprofit that he once ran, might be planning to become a ­political kingpin behind bars.

Seabrook Looks for A New Trial Again

Ex-Councilman seeking retrial on fraud conviction(NYP) x-City Councilman Larry Seabrook is seeking a retrial on his fraud conviction thanks to a courtroom snafu. Margaret Shalley, a lawyer for the bagel-loving ex-pol, filed legal papers Monday seeking the retrial, in response to a federal appeals court in June ordering Manhattan federal Judge Deborah Batts to look at whether Seabrook was denied a fair trial.

The Times profiles three state senators who have continued to run for reelection despite being indicted for various reasons such as embezzlement, perjury and bribery

Three state senators, each with morethan 10 years of experience in office, will appear on primary ballots on Tuesday, despite having been indicted during the last 18 months.

de Beat CM Mealy Has Landlord Arrested When He Tried to Collect the Rent

Brooklyn City Councilwoman Darlene Mealy stiffed her landlord out of $7,500 and then had him arrested after he changed the locks on her office, the disgruntled owner told The Post. Robert Mulzak, a retired city firefighter, says he hasn’t been paid the monthly $1,250 rent owed by Mealy since April for her district office at 203 Ralph Ave. “You would never expect this from an elected official,” he said. “You would expect them to set an example. Pay the rent.” On Friday, Mealy called the cops on him after he changed the four-story building’s locks and didn’t give her a key.

then voted for the change* As a result of the probe, investigators busted a Bangladeshi-born contractor who has been a major donor to local politicians for trying to give $5,000 in cash to Brooklyn City Councilwoman Darlene Mealy in exchange for her help in securing a contract with the Department of Housing Preservation and Development.

Mealy, a Democrat who represents Bedford-Stuyvesant, has not been accused of any wrongdoing and denied to DNAinfo any knowledge of the investigation. (DNAINFO)

Castro the Tape Machine Will Not Be Joining His Fellow Albany Criminals in Jail

Disgraced NY assemblyman spared prison for perjury(NYP) A federal judge on Thursday cut disgraced former Bronx Assemblyman Nelson Castro a break, saying he’s sparing the politician-turned-informant from prison because of his “historic” work as a government mole helping weed out political corruption in Albany.Manhattan federal Judge Paul Engelmayer sentenced the Bronx Democrat to two years probation that includes 500 hours of community service on a conviction for making false statements to federal officials. “For all your warts and misdeeds you did something about [the corruption],” the judge said. “You helped clean house and perhaps your cooperation will lead others [in Albany] to think twice.”* Former Assembly Nelson Castro was sentenced to 2 years of probation on perjury charges, a light sentence for the former politician who cooperated with federal officials by wearing a wire, WCBS 880 reports: * Former Assemblyman Turned Informer Avoids Prison(NYT) * Assemblyman informant gets probation after lying toinvestigators (NYDN)Nelson Castro, a former Democratic state assemblyman from the Bronx who secretly recorded conversations as a government informant, avoided prison largely because of his cooperation that a judge characterized as by all accounts “extraordinarily valuable, and indeed historic.”

As Albany Looks the Other Way, Feds Go After Espada Pension

Feds
go after convicted former NY Sen. Pedro Espada's full
pension(NYDN)Disgraced former state Sen. Pedro Espada has now lost his
entire pension.A judge in June ordered that 25% of Espada’s $612 monthly
pension be
garnished to help collect the $118,981 Espada owes the Internal Revenue
Service. And last week, state Controller Thomas DiNapoli’s office last
week
received another federal court order to withhold the remaining 75% to
help satisfy a $368,088 criminal forfeiture judgement against the crook
convicted crook. Espada, 60, was sentenced in 2013 to five years for
plundering funds from his Bronx health clinic and tax evasion.

Arroyo Gambling Ways

Councilwoman Maria del Carmen Arroyo not only won reelection last year despite nearly getting kicked off the ballot for signature fraud, she also reported $5,000 to $44,000 in gambling winnings in 2013

Corrupt Lawmakers Have Used $7.5 Million of Their Campiagn Account for Legal Fees

State lawmakers spent $300,000 over the past six months from their campaign accounts to cover legal fees stemming from multiple scandals, bringing the total to $7.5 million since 2004, the Daily News’ Ken Lovett reports:* Carl Kruger paid his lawyer Brafman over a million and when to jail anyway
.

The
head of the City Council’s powerful Finance Committee once ran a
taxpayer-funded, not-for-profit that routinely issued checks to her and
her parents, a Daily News investigation has found. EXCLUSIVE:
While Julissa Ferreras (D-Queens) and her mother ran the publicly
funded Latino
Initiative for Better Resources and Empowerment, 16 checks totaling
just over $8,000 were issued to family members and a baseball league ran
by Ferreras's father, according to documents obtained by The News.The
mother wrote several LIBRE checks to her daughter, and the daughter
wrote checks to herself, her father, and a baseball league her father
ran, according to internal LIBRE documents obtained by The News. The
state attorney general’s Charities Bureau says nonprofits must
assign more than one authorizer to sign off on checks, but Julissa and
her mother often signed checks by themselves. Formed in 2003, LIBRE was
supposed to provide an array of services in
Queens, from citizenship classes to job training and education
programs.From 2004 through 2008, Councilman Hiram Monserrate (D-Queens)
funneled $420,000 in city funds to the group.The LIBRE checks to
Ferreras and her family surfaced in a federal
investigation of Monserrate’s misuse of LIBRE. He later pleaded guilty
to using LIBRE to help fund his 2005 reelection and a failed 2006 run
for state Senate.

During that time, Julissa Ferreras served alternatively as his chief of
staff and as chairwoman of LIBRE’s board. She won his former Council
seat in 2009. On June 12, 2007, Julissa by herself signed off on a $3,150 check to a
baseball league her father ran, Dominicana USA Academy. On the same day,
she and a LIBRE employee signed a $1,000 check to a sporting goods
store, R&amp;M, for a “Queens Dominican Baseball Tournament.” The
contact listed was Julio Ferreras.LIBRE closed down in late 2008, as Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet
Bharara began looking at Monserrate, who by that time had become a state
senator.
Monserrate was indicted in 2010 on charges of looting
LIBRE to fund his
political ambitions. He pleaded guilty in 2012 to conspiracy and fraud
and is serving a two-year prison term. Bharara’s office had possession
of the checks to Ferreras and her parents, but Ferreras was not charged
with a crime.

Has Flashback to What True News And Other Media Reported About LIBRE Years Ago

Teflon CM Ferreras AG, Feds and the Queens DA look the Other Way at Ferreras' LIBRE's Corruption

Corruption
In the None Profit Group Libre Sent Monserrate to Jail, The Executive
Director of Libre, Ferreras Was Never Touch By the Investigators

Former councilman Monserrate is in jail because he used his member item money to help his campaign. The none profit group which Monserrate used was Libre, which was overseen by his chief of staff Julissa Ferreras, received
hundreds of thousands of dollars in discretionary funds from the
councilman. The group Ferreras ran Libre never produce time sheets, expense receipts, canceled
checks or board meeting minutes to document its expenses for the two
fiscal years, 2006 and 2007, examined in the audits. Monserrate admitted to carrying out a fraudulent scheme in which
$109,000 in government funds was used to benefit his unsuccessful run
for the state Senate in 2006.While
he was a member of the City Council, Monserrate had directed the money
to a group in his Queens district, the Latino Initiative for Better
Resources and Empowerment, or LIBRE. Mr. Monserrate, who in 2008 was
running for State Senate,
referred at that time questions about the accounting to his chief of
staff, Julissa
Ferreras, who was Libre’s chairwoman during the period examined by the
audits. “She’s the person to have the conversation with,” he
said. “I wasn’t the director. I don’t know what paperwork was there,
what books were there.” Ms. Ferreras, who is running in 2008 to fill
the seat Mr. Monserrate will be
vacating on the City Council, said at that time in a brief telephone
interview with the NYT that the records should be in Libre’s offices. “I
personally
don’t keep the records,” she said.

Boyland Was Re-Elected and Stayed in Office Until He Was Locked Up

It could be pack-up time for two allegedly crooked pols — indicted state Sens. John Sampson, of Brooklyn, and Malcolm Smith, of Queens, who both face stiff Democratic primary challenges,...

Libous Lied to His FBI About His Son's Pay to Play Job . . . Outed At Ratner Corrupt Trial State Sen. Tom Libous, the No. 2 Senate Republican, was indicted along with his son on charges of lying to the FBI and that his son obstructed a tax investigation and filed false tax returns

GOP state senator indicted for lying to FBI(NYP)The No. 2 Republican in the state Senate has been indicted by a federal grand jury for lying to the FBI. Sen. Tom Libous (R-Binghamton) was charged with one count of giving false statements to the FBI about his role in securing a job for his son Matthew with a Westchester law firm. The indictment accuses Libous of making a deal in 2006 with a White Plains law firm to hire his son in exchange for steering business to the firm, which was not named. “Among other things, the grand jury and FBI and IRS were investigating whether Libous told a partner of law Firm 1 that the firm would have to `build a new wing’ to accommodate the business it would receive if it hired his son,” the indictment states. Authorities charged that Libous arranged for a lobbyist to reimburse the law firm $50,000 to help offset his son’s salary. The lobbying firm was identified by the Albany Times-Union as Ostroff, Hiffa &amp; Associates.

NYC Loses Its Keepers of Its Morality Compass: The Gabriela Rosa Edition

The Only Checks and Balances Left in NY's Government is Jail

The
arrest of a NYS Assemblywoman for pretending to be an American Citizen
does not shock anyone anymore. NYC's special institutions like the media
and neighborhoods has lost most of power to keep the moral compass that
has protected generations of NYC residents protected from government
abuse. New
Yorkers' learn of the many cases of political corruption only after the
arrest. The U.S. Attorney has asked the media to investigate
corruption, but they have ignored him. The trial of the leaders of the
second largest party in the city for selling their ballot line (our
democracy) to elect a mayor, gets almost no media attention. It is
clear that the media has lost not only moral compass, but its moral
leadership as well It not only the media that is failing Our city
government was elected claiming to be moral progressives.

Libous also secured a Range Rover for his son as part of the deal, the indictment states. Libous was accused of lying to the FBI about his relationship with the law firm and about having a role in his son’s hiring. Matthew Libous was charged with six counts of filing false tax returns and obstructing or impeding the IRS.The Libous investigationt apparently began in April 2012 when then-Binghamton Mayor Matt Ryan filed a complaint with the state’s ethics board after disbarred attorney Anthony Mangone testified in an unrelated trial that Libous had pushed for his son to be hired — and subsequently given a raise — at the law firm. Mangone had been cooperating with the feds since 2010, when he pleaded guilty to bribing a Yonkers legislator for her vote on a housing project.* After Libous Indictment, de Blasio Says GOP ‘Doesn’t Represent’ Interests of People(NYO) * Bharara: Elected Officials Serve The Public, Not Their Families(YNN) * Skelos ‘Saddened’ By Libous Indictment(YNN)

4 of the Albany Gang Report No Outside Income Who the Other 99% Roll in $$$$

Politicans claim no extra income outside meager salary (NYP)
Assemblywoman Carmen Arroyo and her daughter, City Councilwoman Maria del Carmen Arroyo, each reported no stocks, no bonds, no property, no outside income more than $1,000 and no outstanding loans or debts that would trigger disclosure. That wasn’t the case last year, when the Bronx state legislator reported hitting the jackpot in an upstate casino for more than $28,000. Last year, she disclosed the hiring of her son, Ricardo Aguirre Jr., as a campaign consultant who earned $55,000 of the $102,000 she received in campaign contributions for a primary she ended up winning by a 2-to-1 margin.

Interesting That The Feds Waited Until After the Rangel Race to Drop This Shit

In subsequent submissions to the immigration authorities, she falsely represented that her marriage had been bona fide, the government said. Preet Bharara, the United States attorney in Manhattan, said that Ms. Rosa’s crimes “cut to the heart of her legal qualification to serve the people of the State of New York as a New York State assemblywoman.” “She gained the ability to run for that office only as a result of a yearslong immigration fraud, and then she compounded her lack of fitness to serve by defrauding a federal bankruptcy court,” Mr. Bharara said.* Rosa admits false marriage, forfeits Assembly seat(Capital) * Lawmaker pleads guilty to marriage fraudNYP) * ’Til jail do us part(NYDN Ed) Gabriela Rosa is a Knucklehead for staying in the public eye with a big bad secretRosa's Campaign Consultant Red Horse Endorsed by the WFP

Albany Fund Raising Gone Wild

NYPIRG: 176 Fundraisers During Legislative SessionState lawmakers and Gov. Andrew Cuomo have held or plan to hold a combined 176 fundraisers since the start of the 2014 legislative session, which began Jan. 1, according to the New York Public Interest Research Group. NYPIRG found that during this time, the Senate was or is scheduled to be in session for just over 58 days and 38 nights, while the Assembly is in town for 61 days and 41 nights. NYPIRG points to the governor’s own words on overhauling the state’s political contribution laws: “New York must severely limit campaign contributions from public contractors and lobbyists … in order to end the ‘pay to play’ practices of Albany.”

That Den of Thieves admires a guy who gets 20K a month as a bribe and gets away with it. Sickening.

NYT: Legislative Corruption - Who is Responsivle for It?

Published: April 27, 1860 From the Buffalo Express

The NEW-YORK Times, in an article specially intended for the consideration of the members of the last Legislature, as well as for all its readers, inveighs with great severity against the corruption which it alleges pervaded and controlled it, and warns the people against the ultimate consequences of such corruption. The TIMES may have been incited to unusual vigor in its denunciations, by the fact that the legislature passed sundry bills affecting the City of New-York, the contents of which are not acceptable to that, paper. The merit of the article is not diminished by this, and we think the TIMES deserves great credit, and it certainly has heretofore earned reputation for its watchfulness of the City interests, and for its pointed; forcible und fearless exposition for all schemes for public plunder, and just rebuke of all men who have attempted to live and grow rich at the expense of the tax-payers. It is today, with its kindred journals, held in greater dread by all such men than its courts of justice, and all the machinery of the law. It is doubtless the fact that property owners are better protected by the vigilance and fearless outspokenness of the leading New-York papers, than by all the cumbrous and ineffective paraphernalia of law, which is supposed to protect the rights of its citizens. This is lamentable, but it is true. The great fountain-head of all the streams of corruption that flowed in on the Legislature is the City of New-York; and it is entirely proper that the City should have the benefit of such advice and rebuke as the TIMES or any other paper may have to bestow. This fact, however, does not shield the Legislature if it has been corrupt, and words are not forcible enough to express the indignation which should be visited on the offending members. Not one word shall we offer in their behalf, and can only say if there is ground for charges which are made against certain of them, they should be forthwith indicted and tried for the offence. It is indeed no pleasant prospect to contemplate, which at this stand-point opens before us. The people are at, the mercy of corporations and rich and bad men, and the day has come when the voice of the people has no influence in shaping legislation, nor can constituencies rely on the integrity of representatives. The City of New-York, which paid no attention to the complaints of the means and appliances brought to bear on the Legislature by the railroads, but, with its usual selfishness, promoted all their schemes, has found out that the corruption which could aid the railroad could also be brought to aid the mercenary and selfish schemes of the speculators from the City. The blade has two edges, and it is quite as likely to cut the manipulator as the object at which it is aimed; and while the City groans under the infliction which its own citizens have brought on it, we say it is a matter which concerns the City alone; let the City bear it -- suffering of this kind may end in its ultimate benefit. While the country cordially concurs with the City of New-York in its opinion, that the corruption and bribery will sooner or later end in the ruin of the State, it has no more of pity for the agony which the City suffers under the inflictions of selfish and corrupt speculators, whose names are to be found in their annual directory.

Help Albany's Reach Its Corruption Goal for 2014 Call the Hotline to Contribute

In January, Eric A. Stevenson, a former Democratic assemblyman from the Bronx, was convicted of bribery and other corruption charges; in May, he was sentenced to three years in prison. This month, Malcolm A. Smith, a Democratic state senator from Queens, was granted a mistrial in his trial on bribery and wire fraud charges; Mr. Smith, who has pleaded not guilty, is to be retried in January. And William F. Boyland Jr., a Democratic assemblyman from one of Brooklyn’s prominent political families, was convicted in March of bribery and other charges in federal court in Brooklyn. In late March, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo abruptly disbanded a panel he had established to investigate corruption in state government and develop reforms that would help deter it. His decision prompted an unusual public rebuke from Mr. Bharara, whose office received the panel’s investigatory files and is now examining the circumstances surrounding its dismissal.

Assemblywoman Fakes Her Citizenship Arrested

Rosa I Not As Bad As My Colleagues

Rosa “I didn’t get rich out of my position,” Ms. Rosa said. “I didn’t take any bribes. I didn’t do none of the things that usually you are very used to seeing in the other guys who get into this situation.” Weekend Update: Assemblywoman Rosa Leaves Albany in the Normal Way "Til jail do us part" Sunday UpdateDisgraced politician Gabriela Rosa keeps low-profile after pleading guilty to marriage fraud charges (NYDN) There was no sign of the 47-year-old former Assembly member at her Washington Heights high-rise Saturday, where she returned following Friday’s court appearance.

Hold the Bagel Seabrook May Get A New Trial

Appeals court asks judge to review Seabrook trial(NYP) A federal appeals court on Wednesday asked a Manhattan federal judge to review whether the bagel-loving ex-pol was denied a fair trial when he was convicted in 2012 in a brazen fraud scheme involving more than $1 million in taxpayer money.The Bronx Democrat — who is serving a five-year prison sentence — had appealed to the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals that his constitutional rights were violated at trial ​when a deputy clerk asked his brother, a friend and a​ ​constituent to leave the courtroom during part of jury selection. The judicial panel said that it’s not resolving the issue but gave the ​crooked politician ​new ​hope for a retrial, saying Seabrook’s claim “warrants further fact finding.” The panel sent the case back to Judge Deborah Batts to “clarify whether people were excluded from the courtroom.”* Bronx Ex-Councilman’s Trial Is Investigated(NYT)

Bruno Found Not GuiltyBruno Verdict is a dog whistle to the Albany lawmakers that you can win in court even if your guilty

What's legal is the real scandal. He wrote the laws. Bruno, Ex-State Senate Chief, Is Acquitted of Fraud in RetrialJoe Bruno found not guilty(Capital) Jurors find no evidence of bribery in consulting gig. Bruno was found not guilty of federal corruption charges on Friday.The trial was the second for Bruno, a Rensselaer County Republican, whose first conviction on theft of honest services charges was overturned following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling.Federal prosecutors successfully sought a second trial for Bruno on charges that he received bribes from a businessman in exchange for official acts, such as providing access to key state officials and providing lucrative state contracts.In particular, prosecutors had focused in on Bruno receiving $360,000 in consulting fees, along with $80,000 for a valueless racehorse while backing businessman Jared Abbruzzese interests in thoroughbred racing.Bruno had served as majority leader in the Senate for 14 years before leaving the Senate in June 2008.

Wills hit with corruption charges as wire doesn’t catch(NYP)
Indicted
City Councilman Ruben Wills was trying to get the goods on
fellow lawmakers — and get the heat off himself during a state probe of
his shady nonprofit — by wearing a wire. Wills, who was arrested last
week by Attorney General Eric
Schneiderman, was doing the secret recording at the behest of
Schneiderman’s ­office, two sources said.But Wills apparently failed to
deliver. “He was radioactive, and nobody would speak to him,” a lawmaker
said. “Nobody would have anything to do with him.”

Wills's Campaign Finance Reality Check

The arrest of
Queens Councilman Ruben Wills is a reality check for those
who tout public financing of campaigns as the key to cleaning up
Albany. Welcome to the notoriously sleazy Legislature in Albany, where
gaming the campaign finance laws is an art form. A see-no-evil Board of
Elections, which is party-controlled and paralyzed in the face of
runaway lawbreaking. Good money after bad
(NYDN) The arrest of Ruben Wills should give public campaign finance
enthusiasts pause. During his first, failed run for the City Council in
2009, Wills
collected $139,818 in public money from the CFB — 79% of his total
budget. According to the indictment from Attorney General Eric
Schneiderman,
Wills then secretly funneled $11,500 of his campaign funds to a
nonprofit group he controlled, NY4Life, and glommed the money for
strictly personal expenses — such as buying a $750 Louis Vuitton
handbag.

True News ExclusiveShirley
Huntley was rewarded Thursday for her work as a government snitch and
got out of jail. One day after her former chief of staff Councilman
Ruben Wills is arrested. To save herself, Huntley agreed to secretly record fellow politicians
and two political operatives at her Queens home, where she was
recuperating from a broken ankle.In June, July and August 2012, Huntley hosted fellow lawmakers in her
den, catching them on recording devices hidden in a water bottle, a key
chain and a cigarette case. It was unclear why the feds focused on the nine guests, but at least
four had links to the tainted bid by the Aqueduct Entertainment Group to
build a racino at the Queens racetrack. The feds reportedly directed
Huntley to ask them about Aqueduct.

Get the Feeling Queens Pols Feel They Can Get Over On DA Brown? 9 Queens Pols Arrested Since 2006 With the arrest of New York City
Councilman Ruben Wills marking the ninth Queens politician to have been
investigated, arrested or convicted of corruption since 2006, some
borough residents say they’re fed up with lawmaker corruption, the New York Post reports:

Why Did the NYT Publish This Puffery BS After It Was Known Wills Was A Crook? Did the NYT Wills Puff Piece in 2011 Have Something to Do With Corrupt Flack Arzt Who Was Paid $20,000 By Wills in 2011 After the councilman election?

Grand Jury Looking How a Top GOP Senator's Son Got A Job With A Lobbyist Firm

A federal grand jury in White Plains has been calling in witnesses as it probes the employment of state Sen. Tom Libous’ son at a law firm assigned to an Albany lobbying group close to the senator, the Times Union reports:The grand jury's work relates to a concern that was brought to the attention of the state Joint Commission on Public Ethics two years ago by former Binghamton Mayor Matt Ryan. The Democrat told reporters he wrote to JCOPE requesting it look into statements made by former attorney Anthony Mangone in a federal trial in Westchester County about the family of Libous, a Binghamton Republican.
Mangone, a felon, said the lawmaker had asked him to give Libous' son Matthew a position in Mangone's law firm about eight years ago. Mangone said that a senator would help the law firm get business, and testified that Libous wanted his son to be paid $150,000 and be provided a car, which the firm did. Mangone said the firm received $50,000 from the Albany lobbying firm Ostroff, Hiffa &amp; Associates, and Matthew Libous was in charge of the Hiffa account.* Sen. Thomas Libous declined comment about a reported ongoing federal investigation into whether he used his influence to get his son a job at a prominent law firm in Westchester County.

Convicted Stevenson Did Not Live in the District He Represented Convicted former Assemblyman didn’t live in his own district: prosecutors(NYP)Manhattan
US Attorney Preet Bharara in the filing says Stevenson lied to
probation officers by claiming he “rented a room” at a Prospect Avenue
address in the 79th Assembly District from 2000 until June 2013. He said
officers interviewed the man who lives in the apartment and the
building’s longtime superintendent – and neither knew Stevenson. “This
misrepresentation is even more troubling in light of Stevenson’s
apparent motive: The Prospect Avenue address is within Stevenson’s
former Assembly District 79, and it appears that Stevenson misled the
Probation Office regarding his true address in order to conceal the fact
that he was not living in Assembly District 79, as required, either
time he ran for an Assembly seat in that district,” Bharara wrote in a
sentencing submission recommending roughly four to five years of jail
for Stevenson.

No Reaction From Progressive Councilmembers on Wills Arrest

NY's Corruption Extortion Governing After Years Of Insider Knowing the Facts of Wills' Corruption, An Arrest Indicted City Councilman Ruben Wills
went to great lengths to avoid investigators’ questioning in past years,
ignoring requests for meetings, using excuses about a sick family
member and even storming out of a hearing with state prosecutors,
DNAinfo reports: NYC Councilman Ruben Wills arrested(NYP)

Queens Councilman
Ruben Wills was arrested Wednesday morning in
connection with misuse of public funds, law enforcement sources said.
Wills had been under investigation by state Attorney General Eric
Schneiderman’s over tens of thousands of dollars in missing state funds
given to a not-for-profit group he once headed, New York 4 Life. Wills was arrested and charged with
misusing public funds, falsifying records and trying to conceal the
theft after tens of thousands of dollars went missing from a charity he
ran

Sad "Wills's arrest marks the end of a long, nine day drought since a New York City politician was arrested"

Wills
personally submitted a voucher with the state Office of
Children and Family Services on behalf of the group in 2010. But Wills
declined to answer questions and invoked his Fifth Amendment rights when
he was asked about the missing funds by investigators last year. Wills,
a former aide to ex-state Sen. Shirley Huntley, who was convicted in
another not-for-profit scam. The councilman is also being probe for
steering funds to another non profit group, the Young Leaders Institute.
Wills and a relative on his payroll, Jelani Mills, were arrested and
being processed at the 112th Pct. in Forest Hills.

Rangel aide linked to nonprofit looted by Wills: feds(NYP)
Rangel’s campaign manager helped create a shady nonprofit, New York 4
Life which at the
center of a corruption investigation involving City Councilman Reuben
Wills, The Post has learned. Rasheida Smith, a longtime southeast Queens
Democratic operative, is
listed on the incorporation papers of New York 4 Life, the group that
federal authorities say Wills looted for more than $30,000 to buy such
luxuries as a $750 Louis Vuitton handbag. Smith’s home address was
listed as the nonprofit’s headquarters when
it was formed on Sept. 29, 2006, according to state records. Wills
served as Huntley’s chief of staff before being elected to the City
Council in 2010. The group received a $33,000 state grant from former
state Sen. Shirley
Huntley, who pleaded guilty last year to swiping $87,700 from a separate
education nonprofit she founded. Smith is the founder of her own
consulting firm, Dunton Consulting, and
previously worked for at least two other politicians facing corruption
charges, state Sens. Malcolm Smith and John Sampson. Smith has her own
problems with the government. Records show she has three active New York
state tax warrants
totaling $4,068. The address on those liens is the same she used to form
New York 4 Life. Ms. Smith told the paper she only filed paperwork on
the group’s behalf.

Hate Speech and A Threat By Assemblywoman Hooper At A Young PersonAssemblywoman Earlene Hooper, who
serves as the Assembly’s deputy speaker, was kicked out of the annual
mock session for legislative interns after yelling at an intern and
threatening her with a poor gradeBad temper gets Assemblywoman booted from mock sessio

McLaughlin Out of the Can Early, Ratting on Kruger, Seminero

Albany Rat Infestation Growing

Prison Time Ex-Legislator Must Serve Is Reduced(NYT) Brian M. McLaughlin, a former state assemblyman and labor council head,
was praised for cooperating with federal investigations that resulted in
several corruption convictions. Mr. McLaughlin’s assistance, prosecutors said in court papers, helped
them win convictions for bribery and corruption against State Senator Carl Kruger, Assemblyman Anthony S. Seminerio and David Rosen, the chief executive of the nonprofit MediSys Health Network. Mr. McLaughlin also was the prosecution’s main witness against Santo
Petrocelli Sr., an electrical contractor who pleaded guilty in 2009 to
paying bribes for labor peace, those papers said. That investigation began with several secretly recorded conversations
between Mr. McLaughlin and Mr. Seminerio in the fall of 2007 at the
Atlantic Diner in Ozone Park, Queens, the letter said. Facing a thick
racketeering indictment, Mr. McLaughlin agreed to wear a wire for the
F.B.I. and recorded Mr. Seminerio talking about consultant’s fees he
received from hospitals. The assemblyman said he had grown tired of
helping hospital executives win state business for no charge. *
Former Queens state
Assemblyman Brian McLaughlin gets four years off prison sentence(NYDN) McLaughlin, 62, sentenced to 10 years in 2009 for stealing $3.1 million
from Little Leaguers, lawmakers, contractors and his union. * McLaughlin "provided background as recently as last week for a probe of the Moreland Commission"(NYDN)Some Exclusive Daily News Claims An Exclusive on the McLaughlin Prison Story That Was Posted At 2:30 AM Today. Same story was on the NY Times Website Before 10PM Last Night

Former Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, who was
found not-guilty Friday on bribery-related corruption charges after a
nearly decade-long battle, now wants the state to reimburse his legal
bills, which could amount to as much as $4 million, according to the Post.“After
what I’ve been through, with nine years of being investigated, nine
years of the feds turning my life upside down, with one trial and
another, with all the pain and suffering, I’m entitled under the law to
recover my legal cost and I intend to do so,” he told the paper.

* The lawyer for Susan Bruno, daughter
of Joe Bruno, argues that she was entitled to the pay she received at
the Research Foundation for SUNY, which the state attorney general’s
office is suing for reimbursement for, the Times Union’s Jim Odato
reports: http://goo.gl/69uBY8

* Former state Senate Majority leader
Joseph Bruno, who was acquitted Friday on bribe-related corruption
charges, wants the state to reimburse his legal fees of as much as $4
million, the Post’s Fred Dicker reports: http://goo.gl/WVrYLC

Bruno's Short Court Days Start

Joe Bruno on the cost of his legal defense: "The number is over $4 million, I think."CLOSING ARGUMENTS IN BRUNO TRIAL—Times-Union’s Robert Gavin: Joseph
L. Bruno's attorneys completed their case Wednesday without calling the
ex-state senate majority leader to testify at his trial for alleged
corruption. The U.S. Attorney's office and Bruno's lawyers, E. Stewart
Jones and William J. Dreyer, are scheduled to give their closing
arguments Thursday morning. Albany lobbyist James Featherstonhaugh, who
was the government's first witness at Bruno's 2009 trial, was the final
witness called by Bruno's legal team on Wednesday. He gave a
behind-the-scenes look at how lobbying works in Albany, acknowledging
people regularly hire lobbyists with ties to state leaders. "You can't
have the decision-maker on your team but you can have someone who has
(worked) with the decision-maker," he said. Ex-State Senate Leader On Trial Again for Fraud(NYT)

Joseph L. Bruno, a former State Senate majority leader, is facing
federal charges for a second time. His 2009 conviction was thrown out by
a higher court. Bruno corruption trial, take II. “This case is about a no-show job and the sale of a worthless horse” vs. “Joseph Bruno is an open book.”* 'Did you ever bribe Senator Bruno?' * Jared Abbruzzese, a key witness in
the corruption retrial of former state Senate Majority Leader Joseph
Bruno, denied making bribe or kickback payments to Bruno between 2004
and 2006, the Times Union writes * Mallick said that Bruno's work schedule was filled with meetings with Senate members and companies looking for grant money. #BrunoTrial * Bruno trial jury sent home, move to close discussions denied

Former Bronx Assemblyman Eric Stevenson took bribes partly because he was broke, according to the ex-lawmaker’s attorney.

Ravitch Spill the Inside Albany, Cuomo and Peterson Beans

Lt Gov Ravitch's memoir provides insider view of Albany's dysfunction; shows Cuomo role before he was elelected gov (Newsday) Ravitch insists there were still many admirable politicians and staff
workers in New York politics, but their best efforts and reputations
were compromised by an Albany obsessed with scandal and political power
plays.Paterson then had to deal with scandals in his administration, including
reports that he interfered with State Police to benefit a close friend
who also was a top aide. "The scandals reflected not just the governor's weaknesses," Ravitch
writes in the memoir obtained by Newsday, "but also a state political
system that had lost its ethical gyroscope. It oscillated between
insensitivity to major offenses and hot pursuit of minor or imagined
ones."

"There
probably weren't many senior state officials who didn't keep at least
one eye on the need to cover themselves." While Paterson dealt with
scandal, the Senate was in turmoil. In the
summer of 2009, Republicans who lost their half-century control of the
Senate mounted a coup with three dissident Democrats. That power
struggle gridlocked the legislature for weeks until the dissidents
struck deals for lucrative leadership posts in return for going back
into the Democratic fold. "It was about this time that Andrew
Cuomo, now viewed as the inevitable victor in the 2010 gubernatorial
election, began to make his presence felt within the Paterson
administration," Ravitch writes. Ravitch wrote "it was clear" that
Lawrence Schwartz, both Paterson's
chief of staff and now Cuomo's top aide, "was already taking directions
from the attorney general. Cuomo had the good taste not to try to
pre-empt Governor Paterson's authority explicitly, but everyone inside
the apparatus had a clear sense that the transition of power was well on
its way." Ravitch said Cuomo's criticism sank the fiscal rescue Ravitch
was
appointed to create in the wake of the state's worst fiscal crisis since
the Great Depression. Later, when speculation ran rampant that Paterson
would resign, Ravitch said Cuomo called to ask whom Ravitch would
appoint as lieutenant governor. Ravitch, a Democrat who had key roles
in the 1970s in saving New York
City from bankruptcy, will release his memoir, "So Much To Do: A Full
Life of Business, Politics and Confronting Fiscal Crises," on April 23.
Public Affairs is the publisher.* Former Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch wrote
in a memoir that in the latter days of the Paterson administration, top
officials answered to then-Attorney General Andrew Cuomo more than the
governor, Gannett Albany report

Assemblywoman Earlene Hooper flips out on floor of chamber(NYDN)
Assemblywoman Earlene Hooper (D-Nassau County) really didn't want to be
asked about the FBI's investigation Assemblyman William Scarborough's
per diems. I approached her twice on the floor of the Assembly Wednesday
afternoon and never got past introducing myself. "Why are you talking
to me?" she shouted at the top of her lungs at the
back of the chamber. "Why are you talking to me on the floor?"*
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver on
the FBI raid of Assemblyman William Scarborough’s offices: “It’s always
disappointing when things happen, but I believe in the criminal justice
system.”

Scarborough FBI Journey

‘The Daily Show’ Does Assemblyman Bill Scarborough(NYO) In a new segment last night, The Daily Show took aim at Queens Assemblyman Bill Scarborough, who up until an FBI raid revealed a federal investigation
into his official conduct last week, was not a widely-known political
figure.Host Jon Stewart began by playing a clip of an anchor announcing
the
news. “Assemblyman William Scarborough confirms that agents raided his
home, his offices and a hotel room he uses and left with boxes marked
‘evidence,’” said the anchor. “They raided a hotel room ‘he uses’?
That’s a bit of a tell crime-wise,” the comedian offered. “Secondly,
they walked out with boxes labeled evidence? Why did this
man keep his stuff in boxes labeled ‘evidence’? That is just daring the
police!” Mr. Stewart continued.

The Jury Did Not Believe that Boyland's Was Using His Travel Vouchers Properly The interest in Mr. Scarborough follows the conviction of a Brooklyn assemblyman,
William F. Boyland Jr., a Democrat, on corruption charges after
prosecutors said he bilked the state out of more than $70,000 in fake
travel expenses. He was said to have solicited bribes from F.B.I. agents
in New York City on days he claimed he was in Albany on official
business. “I don’t think I have to give you proof,” Scarborough said when we asked him to provide hotel receipts.(NYP) * #NYAssembly
member William Scarborough submitted 25 travel vouchers for a total of
$18,030 from April 1, 2012 until Sept 30, 2012. Assemblyman Scarborough
says FBI raided his home, hotel and office investigating per Diem abuse*
Asm. William Scarborough says FBI raided his Albany/Queens office today
and busted in on him at the Albany hote * Scarborough, speaking to
reporters, says his next step is to hire a lawyer. Most people do it the
other way around.*NY Legislature has 3 branches: Assemb, Senate, FBI RT @CharmianNeary Just an ordinary day in your state legislature

Politicians caught collecting Albany per diems when they’re not there(NYP)
Claiming
she spent a marathon 12 consecutive days in Albany on
“legislative business,” Queens Assemblywoman Vivian Cook pocketed $171
for each reported overnight stay — a total $2,197 in taxpayer money from
March 21 to April 1, 2010. The Legislature was in session just three of
those days — and Cook was absent for all three, records show. “Me?
You’re kidding! No! I didn’t do that,” she told The Post.

Indicted "Jaguar" Stevenson Not Talking Yet

Prosecutors say Assemblyman Eric
Stevenson, whose corruption trial begins Monday, allegedly used nearly
$3,000 in alleged bribed money to buy a Jaguar in 2012NYC pol Stevenson used ‘bribe’ money on car: prosecutors(NYP) Assistant US Attorney Paul Krieger told Manhattan federal court Chief
Judge Loretta Preska that a key piece of evidence against Stevenson
(D-Bronx), which the government plans to show jurors when the case heads
to trial Jan. 6, is that the embattled pol made two down payments
totaling $2,900 on a 2003 Jaguar within four days after he allegedly
pocketed the $10,000 cash bribe on Sept. 7, 2012.

Weak Law Past By Albany Weakens Ethics and Campaign Finance EnforcementWhile legislative leaders touted a
piece of the budget that they say creates a test case for public
campaign financing, some lawmakers and advocates say the deal quietly
weakened ethics and campaign finance enforcement, Newsday writes:

Thomas
P. DiNapoli, New York State’s comptroller, says the system just
enacted is a badly written, sloppy piece of legislation that was
obviously rushed into effect. Thomas P. DiNapoli, the state comptroller,
is the first to admit that what he plans to do is hypocritical. But
it is true. By adhering to the system, Mr. DiNapoli would have to
forgo more than 70
percent of the roughly $2.1 million in contributions he’s raised.

DiNapoli Who Push For Public Financing Will Not Participate in the Test Program

Kruger in Jail Gets A Campaign ContributionFormer
state Sen. Carl Kruger received a $500 contribution from the software
giant Intuit, despite being in federal prison since June 2012 on
bribery charges, one of dozens of former and deceased lawmakers who
have active campaign accounts, the Daily News reports:

Those Who Cut All Those Checks to Albany Pols, Expect to Get Something in Return

The Daily News’ Bill Hammond re-hashes an anecdote from the Moreland Commission report about how one company spread tens of thousands of dollars around the capital while mounting an intense lobbying campaign in 2008 and 2009. The commission did not name the company, because its investigation is continuing. But a check of public records points to Coventry First of Fort Washington, Pa., whose political contributions and lobbying activity fit the facts to a tee. At one point a few years ago, some players in this industry experimented with bundling purchased insurance policies into securities that could be traded on Wall Street. They were dubbed “death bonds.” Coventry made headlines in 2006 when then-Attorney General Eliot Spitzer sued it for allegedly cheating customers. The company paid $10.5 million to settle that case in 2009.

When the Assembly and Senate introduced the relevant legislation in 2008, Coventry’s checks began to fly. That year, the company contributed $25,000 to the Senate Republican Campaign Committee, $25,000 to the Democratic Assembly Campaign Committee and another $10,000 to then-Assembly Insurance Chairman Joe Morelle of Rochester.

Joe Bruno
on losing his appeal in federal court: “I intend to fully explore all
legal options including a further appeal to the full U.S. Court of
Appeals and if need be, the U.S. Supreme Court.”

Why the Moves From Albany to City Hall

“People would rather work with a thief than with a snitch.”
Gotham Gazette looked at why
so many state legislators are seeking New York City offices this year.
While better pay, a less top-down oriented power structure and a job
closer to home come to mind, so do other concerns, such as fellow
lawmakers wearing wires to bust their colleagues for corruption. “It
makes people really nervous,” said one legislator who requested
anonymity. * Nearly a dozen state legislators are looking to exit Albany by getting themselves elected to the NYC Council or a citywide office.

Nelson Castro, assemblyman who made recordings for prosecutors, pleads guilty to lying to the feds

For more than
three years, Bronx Assemblyman Nelson Castro quietly worked for
prosecutors trying to root out political corruption. The revelation
Thursday had politicians sweating. Assemblyman Michael Benedetto said,
'Assume your conversation is being taped.’* Legislator Who Informed on Others Admits Lying to Authorities(NYT) Castro has been charged with one count
of making false statements to federal officials after allegedly lying
about a YouTube interview he gave discussing his cooperation with
federal authorities * Guilty Plea by Former N.Y. Assemblyman(WSJ) * Speaking of legislators wearing wires, one such person, former Assemblyman Nelson Castro, is being charged with lying to federal prosecutors
about a publicly available YouTube interview he gave: “… he first
denied having given it; then he claimed to have forgotten that he
participated; and then he said he had not discussed his cooperation on
the show — all lies, he admitted to a federal judge in Manhattan on
Tuesday.”

The
Daily News Uses the Defeat of the Proposal to Raise the Retirement Age
for Judges to State the Public Wants All the Old Bums Out of Albany

Albany Term Limits Retire the hacks (NYDN Ed) The Daily News suggests that voters’
rejection of a ballot initiative to raise the age of judges shows they
are disgusted with public servants serving too long and suggests the
Moreland Commission should call for term limits The landslide defeat of a ballot proposal to raise the retirement age for judges sent a powerful message — one that Gov. Cuomo’s
anti-corruption commission would do well to heed: New Yorkers have a
healthy distaste for public officials who overstay their welcome. Are you listening, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver?
Can you hear us, Senate leaders Dean Skelos and Jeff Klein? If Moreland
commission co-chairs William Fitzpatrick, Kathleen Rice and Milton
Williams are serious about changing state government, they must put term
limits on the table for overdue debate.

Daily News No Shame The Daily News Goes After Quinn for Supporting the Overturning of Term Limits A Policy They Supported "No single factor did more to tank the candidacy of City Council Speaker
Christine Quinn than her role in overriding term limits for Mayor
Bloomberg, herself and other city officer holders that voters had
approved twice."* The Second Most Powerful Democrat in New York State(YNN)

The Times’ Michael Powell examines a
bill crafted by state Sens. Jeff Klein and Martin Golden that would have
raised the cost of the security tax stamp on cigarette packs and would
have allowed a campaign donor to profit handsomely_______________________________________________________Always Corrupt Albany

In 1948, New York Times correspondent Warren Moscow published a book called “Politics in the Empire State” — a 238-page look at New York state government.
Here is how Moscow portrayed the view of formal influence peddling at the state Capitol:

“In Washington a stink is occasionally raised over the
fact that some lobbyist has sat in with a congressional committee and
participated in the drafting of a bill. In Albany it is done all the
time and no one gets excited about it. The politically sophisticated
members of the state Legislature see no harm in it, and if not done sub
rosa, it really isn’t wrong.”

Patricia Lynch Associates, one of
Albany’s powerhouse lobbying firms, laid off several staffers, including
two in Albany, lobbyists Lisa Reid and Zack Hutchins, sparking
speculation of financial troubles at the firm, the Times Union reports:

New Yorkers Leaders In Not Trusting Their Government and Political Leaders, Why?

Where Albany does business(Capital) Hint: It's not the Capitol. Legislators call it the Bear Mountain Compact: What happens north of
the Bear Mountain Bridge stays north of the Bear Mountain Bridge, and in
Albany—where they work in semi-regular sessions for six months a
year—business and pleasure often merge into one expensive blur. Time
and again, the gears of government have turned not during official
confabs in Capitol meeting rooms, but over omelets, dinners, and drinks
at any number of “power spots” around the region. Stop by any of these
sites on a Monday or Tuesday night in January or July and you might be
surprised who you run into, or what's going on.

Fake Public Albany
The list of end-of-session priorities for Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and
legislative leaders reads like a song verse stuck in your head: campaign
finance law changes, job creation incentives, minimum wage increase,
special protections for women in the workplace, and state aid for
children of illegal immigrants.

Real Lobbyists Albany
But
behind the scenes, most of Albany’s special-interest groups pay
little attention to such matters. Hospitals, unions, car dealers, energy
firms, pharmaceutical conglomerates and others spend their time caring
about the likes of complex civil liability laws, tort insurance,
regulatory rules and other issues that the public pays little attention
to but can be of great financial value to these special interests. Doing
their bidding are 6,383 registered lobbyists in Albany, retained
for a record $191 million, according to a state ethics agency report.

They’re hiding something
(NYDN)As they stonewall what could be the last, best chance to clean up
state
government for this generation, the top bosses of the Assembly and
Senate claim that they are sticking up for the interests of the entire
Legislature. It’s a matter of principle, they declared as they went to
court to
battle Gov. Cuomo’s Commission to Investigate Public Corruption. We’re
standing for the constitutional balance between the executive and
legislative branches, they said in trying to quash subpoenas for
details of the outside income they collect for doing who-knows-what for
who-knows-whom. Hogwash. Albany's legislative bosses cover their
backsides in subpoena fight* Only ten of the 25 members of the
Moreland Commission on Public Corruption have filed financial disclosure
forms with the state Joint Commission on Public Ethics, and the panel’s
three chairpersons are among those who have not, the Times Union’s James Odato writes: * Silver, Skelos and Klein join law firms' legal fight against MorelandSilver, Skelos and Klein Uses Nixon's Watergate Separation of Powers Argument to Kill Subpoenas

More
than half of the 32 chose to cooperate by turning over such basic
information as the nature of their work and the names of their
nonconfidential clients. That leaves no more than 15 holdouts — at most,
a mere 7% of the Legislature. But that small group happens to include
all three of the Legislature’s
leaders — the only ones who matter in the boss-dominated Capitol.
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver collects as much as $450,000 a year —
more than triple his state salary — from the trail lawyer firm Weitz
&amp; Luxenberg. Senate GOP leader Dean Skelos
receives as much as $250,000 a year from the Long Island firm of Ruskin
Moscou Faltischek. And Senate Independent Democratic Conference chief
Jeff Klein, who
shares power with Skelos, garners as much as $85,000 from his own firm
in the Bronx.

The
ethics laws they wrote require them to disclose only the rough
amount of their outside income and the name of their official employer.
But what, if anything, do they do for the money is a blank. Do they
represent clients with business before the state? Are they rainmakers
cashing in on their government titles? In fact, the commission asked
nothing from the Legislature as a body —
only from a relative handful of its members, who are independently
elected and independently accountable. Most appear to have done what’s
right for the state and its citizens. Silver, Skelos and Klein are doing
what’s right for them. On Wednesday, the Senate GOP’s fund-raising arm
backed down from its
part of the subpoena fight, wisely choosing to compromise and cooperate
rather than stand in the way of openness and reform. The Legislature’s
leadership must do no less.* In the days before the election, @ShellySilver's law firm gave $50K to the PAC backing judicial retirement increase (Capital) * Klein, law partner tag-team to score big on appointments(Riverdale Press)

The ex-girlfriend of former state
Sen. Hiram Monserrate is pressing a $35 million lawsuit against the
city, NYPD, detectives, and staff at Long Island Jewish Hospital
alleging her domestic violence case against Monserrate was fabricated New York City attorneys: Nix suit by state senator’s missing ex-girlfriend (NYDN) Karla
Giraldo is suing the city and others for $35 million, saying they
forced her to fabricate domestic violence claims against jailed former
state Sen. Hiram Monserrate, her ex-boyfriend. Trouble for her case is,
no one can find her.

Why Does the NYT Talk About His Crying and Not About What Conditions Allow Kruger for 16 Years to Abuse His Public Office?

Why
does the NYT look at why the DA's never catch corrupt pol? Only when
the feds do a sting operation on the pols do they get convicted. The
DAs have never done a sting operation. Does the city's criminal justice
system of DAs dependent on the political machines and corrupt pols to
win reelection need to change? Why the ethic committees of both Albany
and City Hall never caught a single corrupt pol. Why did the NYT look
into why Seabrook beat the rap?

Another
pol the late Anthony Seminerio was already convicted of stealing from
the same hospital ownersl. Yet another elected official Carl Kruger awaits trial early next year on the same charge.
In fact the executive director of the corporation that owned the
hospital has already been convicted of paying bribes to Boyland, Kruger
and Seminerio.

Brian
McLaughlin of Queens out Jersey-ed Jersey by stealing $95,000 from the
Eastchester Little League. McLaughlin also pocketed more than $2
million in taxpayer funds and he is presently serving a 10-year
federal prison term.

The
mayor's Commission to Combat Police Corruption is a small city agency
that monitors the NYPD's Internal Affairs Bureau (IAB), but it has no
subpoena power. The Feds are catching Medicare corruption not the
Medicare IGs. The DAs elected by the same machines as the corrupt pols
leave it to the feds to go after them. If you want to know how broken
the DA system of law enforcement is just look at the NYPD ticket fixing
scandal Ticket Fixing is only a crime in the Bronx? * Big reason NY legislators leave office? Corruption(CrainsNY)

Did Albany Hid the Pork in the Budget?

Pork Decried, Not Dead(WSJ) Cuomo has taken a tightfisted public stand against legislative pork-barrel spending, a point of pride for his administration.Despite
Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s no-new member items pledge, there is plenty of
money in the state’s budget that can be used for pet projects. There is $40 million worth of pork--by another name--tucked into Andrew Cuomo's budget, despite his campaign claims to do away with the process

Will the Promise of $$$ Break Albany's Blue Wall of Silence Against Corrupt Members?

Not
one word to the press was issued to the press by any of the pols about
any of the 10 elected officials in the last few years that when to
jail. No moral leadership. Most local pols are not using the talking
points that include let the voters decide. Not one comment about what
they feel about Weiner's actions. It is like the bad old days of the
police department's "Blue Wall of Silence," before the Rev. Sharpton
and others caused at least some good cops to speak out against the
bad cops. To this date there been no pressure by the press who was
lied to to force to ask other city pols what they think about Weiner. In
the 70's Rev. Sharpton
said the fact that cops did not go after their lawless partners was
the leading cause of corruption in the Police Department. No less can
be said about the pols who fail to speak out against their corrupt or colleagues who lie.

Huntley Funded Group Protest Arrests of the Senators Aids for Member Item Corruption

A
church coalition protesting the arrest of a top aide to Queens Sen.
Shirley Huntley and three other people for allegedly misusing taxpayer
money has itself received taxpayer money from Huntley. Clergy United for
Community Empowerment has received $70,000 in member items from Huntley
since 2007, according to government transparency website Project
Sunlight. Last week, the church group announced plans to rally outside a
Nassau County courthouse Feb. 1 to protest the indictments of Patricia
Savage, a legislative aide to Huntley, and three other individuals –
Lynn Smith, Roger Scotland and David Gantt. The four were indicted last
month by Attorney General Eric Schneiderman on charges they falsified
documents to steal $30,000 in taxpayer money meant for an education
nonprofit. Lelani Clark, a spokeswoman for the coalition, said she
couldn’t comment on whether the group should have disclosed its
connections to Huntley in announcing plans to rally in support of the
senator’s aide. “The focus of that press release was the rally,” Clark
said. “I don’t have any comment on that.” A spokesman for Huntley also
declined comment.(C&amp;S)